Teenage Mutant Equestrian Turtles - HI NO DE
by HorseTechie
Summary: It's Thanksgiving, and the guys are inflicted with the flu and a mysterious force that's kidnapping racehorses.
1. HI NO DE - 1

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HI NO DE

__

"Sunrise"

WRITTEN BY   
SHARON LEE 

Inspired by the TMNT, the Black Stallion, and the speed of Thoroughbreds

The TMNT are registered terrapins of Peter Laird, who is in charge of Mirage Publishing/Studios, and thus, I claim no ownership to this clever idea of a mutant ninja turtle. The only character I claim as my own is Ryan "Ryutaro" Keshiki and the horses they rode. 

****

_____________________________________________

Ichi...

In one of the old subway cars, Splinter knelt beside Michaelangelo. The concerned rat removed the thermometer from the turtle's mouth. As he did so, Mike anxiously watched his bushy eyebrows rise.

"Awl man..." The Turtle shifted uneasily on his futon. His cat, Klunk, leapt up on the mattress and sat on the end. 

"You be all right," Splinter laid his hand on Michaelangelo's brow for a moment. He pulled up the blanket and watched the Turtle's liquid brown eyes until they closed. "Sleep now, my son, it is much needed."

Splinter also noticed Leonardo standing at the door of the subway car went he turned to leave. After stepping outside, he laid a reassuring hand on Leonardo's arm and told him Michaelangelo would be okay. But just as a precaution, however, there was the possibility that the others would get sick from whatever Michaelangelo had. Splinter turned his eyes away from Leo and walked to his car at the end of the Subway station.

With a sigh, the older turtle looked out to the platform area next to the line of cars. Raphael and Donatello were bundled under blankets on the broken-down couch watching something on TV. It was getting colder in the subway station lately, colder than what they were used too. The musty fumes that hung in the air meant that Don must have gotten the kerosene space heater to work again. But it still wasn't as effective and cheap as furnaces connected to hot steam pipes, like in the other liar. 

This antiquated subway at least had much more than a hole in the sewer walls, what with the electricity and plumbing, but it also had a lot more open space. Trying to stay warm there was starting to get tricky, since it didn't completely go below the freezing line. Who knew how cold it would be there when winter really took hold? Leo decided if they couldn't stay warm, they would have to move back into April's apartment. That option came more for Splinter's sake, being as old as he was. As turtles, they could go into some sort of hibernation - something they did when younger to make it easier for Splinter. But sticking it out through the cold months meant worrying about sickness and finding enough food. And cooperation from everyone to prevent that sort of suffering. Leo took in a deep breath and stepped in front of the TV to turn it off.

"_What?_ Leo..." Raphael got up from the couch with the intent to turn it back on.

"What did Splinter say 'bout Mikey?" Don sat up more from the couch. He could tell something was bothering Leo more than usual.

"He thinks it's the flu bug," Leo told Don as he batted Raph away from the power switch.

Raphael stopped to look at Leo. "An' you had to turn off the TV to tell us that?"

"It's because Splinter wants us to be careful around Mikey-"

"I already am careful around the klu--"

"Listen, Raph! He's contagious now--"

"Don't get sick? That's impossible, Leo! Besides, the Shred-head is dead for sure. He's fish food now." Raph fixed his eyes on Leo's with a look of certainty.

"We should be ready for _anything_. There's still some Foot out there. Y'know how they strike when we have our guard down. Get with the program, Raph!"

"I can handle it," Raph told him. It must have been the past holiday, when the Foot made hell break loose, that was making Leo nervous again. "Leo, look, you gotta let all that from before go."

"You _want_ to be sick to have your butt kicked?"

Don shook his head as he watched the two make faces at each other. They always have to argue about something. At least Raphael wasn't in one of his funks now.

"Now you've given 'the great message', can I turn the TV on?" Raph pointed to the set.

"Fine! Don't give a damn about this!" Leo held his hands up.

"Shya..." Raph left them. This topic was a lame one to fight over anyway. He'll go out to Casey's place then. There, he'll be off of his brother's shells and be warm.

* * *

Despite all that Splinter did to care for Mike, his concern persisted. His homemade remedies worked just enough to alleviate Mike's discomfort. But the virus still won at the end. Mike was not showing signs of improvement like Splinter hoped to see.

Nonetheless, Mike still wanted to stick it out and participate in the day's training session. Splinter felt uneasy with this decision, but he allowed him to practice.

"Do that one more time, and I'll blow snot on you, asswipe!" Mike got back on his feet.

Raph stayed in his defensive stance. "Wull, stop bein' such a push-over, Booger Brain."

"Look, Chunky Chicken, I'm doin' good to even be here." Mike stepped back into a fighting stance and flipped back his chucks.

Raph gave him a sinister look, his sai gleaming in the light. "Dimetapp Droolin' Dog."

"Whoa, a triple D... uhh, time out!" Mike promptly straightened up to face his sensei. "My head is killin' me, not to mention the rest-- Master Splinter...can I be excused?"

With a groan, Raph turned away. He noticed Leo stopped his spar with Don to see what was going on too. Raph had to admit it wasn't like Mike to walk away from a challenge.

Splinter narrowed his eyes with concern, but he actually felt more relieved. It was better for Mike to not work up a sweat in his condition anyway. Despite all his remedies, the best one he could give was rest. The sensei granted Mike the permission to leave. "Do get more rest," Splinter told Mike as he bowed out.

Later, Leo stopped by Master Splinter's car to learn of any new developments. His sensei seemed to be preoccupied with something lately and that bothered him. "Master? Can I talk to you?" Leo stood at the door.

The old rat sat on his _zabuton_ near a small, electric heater. He nodded wearily.

Leo entered and kneeled in front of the rat. "You're worried about Mikey, right?"

"What he has is something strong. I have not seen any illness that bad in a long time." Splinter nodded. "I hope Mike can fight it."

Leo could sense the regret in his voice. A feeling of unfairness for who they are. "Yeah, the wonder of modern science...designed by humans, for humans." Too bad April was visiting relatives this week. Ever since they gotten to know her and Casey, they opened a door to the outside world that wasn't there before. In addition to experiencing many more human customs and experiences, good and bad, the Turtles got access to drugs and antibiotics too.

"It gets worse before it gets better, I fear," Splinter added.

"Do you know for sure what it is?"

"Influenza. A bad case."

Don looked up from his monitor to see Raph leaving. He was decked out in his bandana and sai again. "Going' topside with Casey?" Don wanted to make sure. Another part of him wanted to go where it was warm too. Keyboards and mittens definitely didn't work out too well. 

"...Yeah," Raph stopped to look at Don a moment. "I'm dying from boredom here." And the off key sounds Don's computer made was starting to drive him nuts.

Don's dark eyes fixed themselves back on the black DOS screen. The computer game he was writing, and experimenting with, was starting to eat at his patience. His head was pounding with a hunger headache too. Don sat back and checked the clock. No wonder, it was almost seven o'clock. Leo and Splinter have been preoccupied for a long time too.

__

Well, somebody's gotta do something about dinner.

Don stepped into Mike's car. "Mikey, how's it goin'? Hungry for some Chinese, or something?"

Mike was lying on his back with his arms folded across his face. He put them down to look at Don. "Donny, _don't_. I just spewed," Mike whispered.

Klunk looked at Don with a matter of fact expression. _Yeah, talk about a mean hairball!_

"Ooka-" He frowned in disgust and started to back out. 

"In the bathroom."

Don stopped at the door. "You okay now?" he tried to sound more concerned.

"No..." Mike put his arms back over his face.

Don frowned, "Try drinking water?"

"Don't feel like it..." 

"Well, um, hang in there," Don finally left him to look for the others.

"Mhh... s'cuse me," Mike swept by to get to the rest room.

Don went directly to Master Splinter's car after that. "Master?" He kneeled next to Leo. "Mike's... vomiting now."

"Now it's stomach flu..." Leo grimaced. Splinter already left to check on Mike.

* * *

It was the middle of the night and a streak of light still shone from the restrooms. All but the glow from the kerosene heater, the rest of the station lay in a still darkness. But this light persisted...it kept Raphael awake since he became aware of it an hour ago. The reason why it was on just kept bothering him.

Raphael finally crept out of the car to check on Mike. He heard Don asleep on the couch, apparently not wanting to sleep in the same car with Mike tonight. Raph knew Don cared about Mike, but Don had never been one for being much of a nurse. Sure, Don may know medical science inside and out, but he tended to get squeamish when it got down to the actual flesh and blood.

Raphael turned his focus on the restroom. He hadn't heard any noises come from it for some time now.

Raph found Mike on his knees, leaning against one of the sinks and sound asleep. _You know, toilets handle this shit way better_, he thought as he turned on the faucet to rinse out the sink. 

The cold spray of water awoken Mike and he lifted his head. "_Whut_, where? Uh, Raphael." 

"Feelin' any better?" he stood there while holding the empty Pepto bottle upside down.

Mike tried to smile. "Nuthin' works, eben the 'beverage of choice'..." he attempted to stand up.

Raph helped him and put his brother's arm around his shoulder. "And nothing cures a hangover either," he motioned that Mike should go back to bed. "You weren't here all night? It's getting cold."

"Gave in, huh?" Mike asked instead. He thought this was not like Raph.

"You get better, okay?" Raph regarded him with a warm smile. It reminded him of that time, during their first encounters with the Foot, when he had been beaten into a coma. Leo and Mike faithfully took care of him for a couple weeks until he came out of it. He would never forget that. Before Raph left the car, he set a bucket by Mike's bed. "So you won't hafta get outta bed."

* * *

The next day, which happened to be Thanksgiving Day, started off on a different note. Before April left to visit relatives, she gave them a turkey and some holiday money so they could celebrate the occasion too. Leo found himself stuck with the duty of buying food needed later that day with Casey. This holiday had gotten to be one they looked forward too, as it was a chance to eat some hot, real food.

By ten o'clock, Raphael was up watching the parade and whatnot on TV. Don had been watching TV, but instead busied himself with replacing some light bulbs here and there, now that they got some new ones. When they started cleaning up the place last summer, Don noticed that light sockets lined much of the architecture. The subway must have used hundreds of light bulbs back then. Now, however, he couldn't imagine obtaining that many light bulbs, or repairing the wiring, to make it all work. Of course, finding a way up to the higher parts of the ceiling became another challenge. So just a few light bulbs stuck in the bottom sockets and a couple floor lamps suited them. After that was done, Don finally mustered some courage to go into the diner car to get the turkey going. 

"What gives, Chef Boy D? You makin' enough noise to win over a construction crew." Raph walked into the diner car.

Don didn't look up, as he was searching through a box on the floor, "Can't find that folder with recipes in it..."

"Aww, heaven forbid, Donny has to cook without a recipe!" Raph teased him. He loved it whenever Don didn't know about something.

Don stood up and crossed his arms. He looked at the small turkey on the counter the back to Raph. "Would _you_ know how long to bake a bird, in a _toaster_ oven?"

Raph smirked. Don was practically working himself into a tissy over the matter. "It's alright to say the words, 'I don't know'." 

Leo walked in and set a grocery bag on the table. He didn't have a moment before they pummeled him with questions.

"Leo, do you know how long to cook turkey?"

"Is Casey comin' over?"

"Would you know where the recipes are?"

"Guys," Leo held out his hands to keep the two at bay long enough for a response. "The answer's _no_ for both of you."

"What?" Raph tried to hide his disappointment. This day was going to be a drag for sure. First Mike and now Casey's out of the picture.

"Casey told me he was going out of town. His mom had been missing him." Leo turned to Don, who seemed perplexed by the news as well. "Donny, I'll ask Mike if he knows about the turkey, okay?"

Mike sat in his bed, flipping through a comic book when Leo walked into the car. "_Que pasa?_"

"Your medicine, catch!" Leo tossed him a small, paper bag. "How are you feeling?"

Mike promptly dropped the comic to make a fast rebound. "Uh...I'm not pukin'," he hoarsely replied.

"That's improvement. Look, after what Casey went through at the doctor, you better take that stuff." Leo smiled. "And Don's wondering how long to bake the turkey. What do you have on it?"

"I got something in the folder over there," Mike looked up from the bag to point under a cluttered bench seat.

"Geez, Mikey! No wonder..." Leo fished it out himself.

"Happy Thanksgivin', Leo." Mike pulled out a container of pills to read, then put on a Bob Dylan impression. "Whoa, dude! E-everybody must get sto-oned."

Leo went back to the diner car and tossed the folder on the counter.

"Uhh, maybe I should disinfect it first," Don looked upon the folder without touching it.

"Get real, Donny-boy." Raph groaned.

Leo shrugged and opened the folder. "Got any ideas so far?" 

"Just turkey, if I can bake it." Don rummaged around in the refrigerator.

"Hmm, pumpkin pie pizza..." Leo paged through the recipes.

"Leo!"

"At least Mike isn't the cook this time," he broke his smile to the other two.

* * *

The three worked together to do what they could for dinner in between TV commercials. For Raph, it was the football games that made the highlight of Thanksgiving Day, not as so much the food. On the contrary, food was often a luxury for them while TV became a necessity. 

The cheers coming from the game on TV brought Mike out of his room. He had made it clear before he didn't want any of the dinner.

"Hey, Mikey-y! Long time, no see," Don scooted over on the couch for him.

Mike sat down and warmed his hands in the space heater. "Who's winning?"

"Huh... dunno, don't care," Don sighed. "Been in the kitchen most of the time."

Mike took a glance through the doorway of the diner car, "Just turkey?"

Don nodded, "Still not joining us? Casey's not coming, so..."

"He's not? Man, it's goin' to be a bummer."

"Talk about all the turkey leftovers we're gonna have." Raph leaned on the back of the couch. He somehow felt the need to get on Mike's nerves.

Mike pulled his blanket over his shoulders more. _Shut up Raph, or I'm gonna..._

"Ya sure you don't want any... turkey?"

Mike shook his head.

"Raphael," Splinter addressed him, "fifteen- "

"But, I w-"

"No 'buts,' do flips _now_," Splinter ordered.

"Suckaa," Mike grinned, but was reminded of his manners or he could be next.

The dinner of Thanks came and went, but with a semi-festive atmosphere. It just wasn't the same without Mike being himself. They did save some of the turkey for him, but he still refused. When in fact, Mike actually was afraid of what Don did to the turkey. It just didn't sound too good.

* * *

Things were fairly calm that night--or were they? Leo suddenly woke up to a thud, and Mike cursing. He thought it could've been a sudden invasion of the Foot Clan. "What's going on?" He whispered to himself, a katana in hand.

"Uh, hi Leo," Mike stood by the couch as he rubbed his right shoulder.

Leo lowered his blade in relief, "What's the story now?"

Splinter also came to the door of his car, but just listened.

"Uhh...I musta fell off the couch, into the table," Mike whispered. He was glad he didn't knock it into the kerosene heater too, or it would've been a real mess. 

Leo glanced over to Splinter with a half smile. "The break from _him_ was nice when it lasted." He turned to go back to bed.

"Great, there went my footrest." Mike slowly piled up the pieces of the coffee table before he drifted back to his own bed.


	2. HI NO DE - 2

HI-NO-DE - Chapter 2 ****

Ni...

Mike woke up to sounds of his brothers fighting, and abruptly sat up. Don's wooden bo landed in the doorway. Then he heard Raph hooting about his victory. They were just practicing. The turtle rolled over to check his alarm clock. _Whoa, almost one in the afternoon!_

Don seen Mike sitting up when he retrieved his bo. "Mikey! Wanna join us?" he waved his staff.

"You're not serious," 

Don folded his hands and put a serious look on his face. "Honestly." Mike's knee pad promptly hit him in the chest.

"Wise ass." Mike sneered.

"I _get_ the message," Don threw it back at his brother and faced Raph again.

When Mike caught his kneepad, the pain in his shoulder made him wince. "Fetch, Klunk," he pitched the leather pad to his cat. Klunk looked at it and glared at him. _Do what?! _

"Heh. Just testin' yah, kitters." Mike got out of bed. 

__

Uhh boy, why do I still feel like shit, he thought as he left the car, _hell, a real turtle could move faster than me_. Shaking off the sleep, he sat on the couch and stared at the table. Maybe he could get Don to put it back together.

Few minutes later, Mike noticed Don limping over to a chair next to the couch. He stood up to offer him some help. From the pain he read on his face, Don did something bad.

"What is reason now?" Splinter joined the two.

"Raph..." Don sighed and looked at his master. "A-actually, it was more my fault. I-I think I pulled a muscle in my leg."

"Hmmm," Splinter paused a moment. "Sit on the floor." He then slowly stretched out Don's left leg and palpated it.

Don braced himself as Splinter began to use some acupressure. "_Eiiaah_! Hurts, it...aahh--"

"No, muscle strain in calf. If you can still move it, it's not torn." Splinter sighed, looking Don's leg over. "You must remember to warm up before practice."

Splinter rubbed some liniment on the affected area and taped up the leg. "Put it on ice," he finished with a smile. 

Don nodded and gingerly limped over to the couch. Mike already left to get him ice.

"Mikey, Master wants to see you next." Don took the ice from his brother.

Mike nodded and went to the car. _I hope he just wants to know how I feel. _He didn't need Splinter to see how bad he bruised his shoulder.

"Sit here, my son," Splinter gestured to a _zabuton._

Mike kneeled in front of the calm rat, and figure to respect at times like this.

"How are you today?" Splinter touched Mike's forehead long enough to check his temperature.

"I guess I'm getting better, but I still feel like...uh, drained."

He sensed Mike's health was coming back slowly as well. "Don't feel too warm...medicine's working."

"It's knocking me out, that's what it's doing." Mike grinned.

"Yes, but I want you eating more, Michaelangelo, even though you're not hungry." Splinter insisted. For a moment, it seemed odd he had to tell Mike that.

"No, I am not gonna put the table, that _you_ busted, back together. Not now," Don promptly refused Mike's request.

"_Please_?" Mike persisted. Besides the kitchen table, this was the only other table they had. It's not easy to find good, free furniture and drag it down here.

"Figure it out yourself," Don kept his eyes focused on the TV even though Mike was standing in front of him.

Mike began to say something more, but was quieted by him.

"This sounds like something, could'ja move over?" he waved his hand at Mike.

"It's just those disappearances of racehorses," Raph informed them.

Don looked over to Raph, sitting at the other end of the couch. "You heard it before?"

"Yeah, last night when I was waitin' for _Arsenio_ to come on," Raph explained. "Right, Mike?"

"Huh?" he gave Raphael, a confused look.

"C'mon, you sat up like you were gonna leave, but you didn't after I sat down. Fell back asleep instead."

Mike still stared at him, confused. "Damn, was I ever knocked out from the Nyquil. Don't remember that."

Intrigued by the conversation, Leo stopped practicing sword _katas_ to join them. "Why didn't you say anything about the news broadcast, Raph?"

"Well, it was the middle of the night, an' I didn't think it was a very hot subject. Think about it."

"_Think_ about it? We haven't had anything for the longest time, and I'm starting to worry when they are going to hit again!" Leo reasoned.

"So am I Leo, but if it's not Foot related, why should we mess wit it?"

"Yeah, I can't see the Foot messin' with horses." Mike backed up Raph's reasoning. Don held them quiet so they could hear what the reporter said.

__

It definitely couldn't tie in with the Shredder--he's dead, Mike thought. Splinter reassured them of this. He recalled how Splinter threw Oroku Saki off the roof of a building, only for Saki to bring the building down on himself. They thought he was dead then, but something didn't feel right. The second time they encountered Saki, they made sure he was finished. While Mike and the others kept Saki's mutations busy in some stupid nightclub, Leo and a monstrous Saki had a fierce sword fight outside. He came out to watch Leo end the fight by decapitating Saki before the boardwalk came down on them all. They knew he was dead then. Mike still remembered how they located the body, and burned it on a makeshift raft in the bay. "There's definitely no way Shredder's involved," he added.

"Nevertheless, this should be interesting, with only two of you in good condition," observed Splinter, getting into the conversation. "But it'll be another test for you to try."

"But when did that stop us?" Leo asked, with a spark of determination.

Later that night, it was decided to go on with the horse excursion the next morning.

"So, how are we going to do this, oh Great Leader?"

Leo sighed and looked at Raph. "I'm thinking that tomorrow morning we head out to the Belmont Racetrack, and check up on the going on's there." 

"That's simple enough."

"Sorta..." Don sat back, uninterested. "What does any of us know about horses?

"C'mon Donny, I'm still goin'." Mike nudged him.

"But, you'd do anything to be around animals."

"Computer Geek."

"Am not!"

"Are too, D2!"

"Mike!" Leo forced them back on track, again. "While we're there, we'll check out the horses, like before and after the races, and see if we can find some sort of evidence that could help us out."

"And maybe we could hide in a few stalls of horses that might be the next victims, to stop the nappers." added Mike.

"Sounds cool," said Raph, "But I'll leave that job for you."

"Or we wear people clothes to blend in," Mike tried a better option.

"Is everyone in on this?" Leo held out a hand.

They kind of agreed.

The time had come, and everyone was either getting ready to go or still waking up. Leo decided they go before the sunrise. He wanted the darkness of dawn to conceal them. "Took you guys long enough to get over here." Leo looked Mike and Raph as they sneaked into the main room.

Mike dropped his ski coat on the floor to pull his sweatshirt on. "Hey, it was harder since I had to decide what to wear."

Raph loudly yawned after sitting down on the couch. He settled simply on jeans and his trench coat attire.

"Really Leo, can I stay behind?" Don asked, leaning on his bo. His leg was really stiff this morning.

"No, Don."

"But wouldn't it be useful if I stayed here and watched TV for some updates, or check up sites on the computer? I also saw some race listings on cable..." He tried a more productive approach.

They looked at Don with mixed feelings. More than often he does stuff like this. Leo realized Don's underlying point, however. If Don didn't want to risk walking around on his sore leg, he shouldn't.

"Might as well," sighed Leo. "_But_, only under one condition: write down all the good info you hear, just to make sure you're doing it."

"So like, are we gonna haul shell, or not?" Raph yelled, from the subway tunnel going into the sewer system.

"Man, he must've drank some Jolt or somethin'," Mike muttered as he adjusted the collar on his coat. He and Leo picked up the pace and caught up.

"Mikey, you said you knew a way there."

He looked at Leo and hesitated. It's going to take some clever thinking later to keep one of his best kept secrets from his brothers now. "Yeah, but we can't take the sewers all the way there. Gotta take to the streets and sneak in."

"Hrmm, and how do you know?" Raph seemed to be more suspicious about his knowledge.

Mike started up the ladder to the street. "Where do you think I get money for Domino's?" _Damn, gotta learn to keep my mouth shut_, he realized what he'd said.

They walked the sidewalks until they found a fire escape to climb unto the roofs. It felt better for their own safety, clothes or not, to travel out of sight from humans. Running the rooftops and jumping alleys had also been a favorite workout when they were younger. But being somewhat out of shape from the flu, Mike had to stop them a couple times to catch his breath.

On one break, he saw Leo watching the gold sun peeking up from the city's horizon. "Don't get to see that too often," Mike remarked, his breath crystallizing in the cold air. Strangely enough, the sunrise also brought him some bittersweet memories of Casey's farm in North Hampton. Mike had to admit he missed that place. It was warm, comfortable, and they had a lot more freedom to do whatever they pleased. And no one was around to see them, since the farm was out in the middle of no where.

Leo took in a deep breath, marking the end of that breather. "Let's go!" he sprinted off again.

After checking for traffic, they climbed down and headed to a sidewalk close to the gate. With luck, a four-horse trailer with a thoroughbred image painted on the side drove by. Without another thought, they hitched on to the back and climbed ontop. When it drove through the gates of the racetrack, the three jumped off when they felt no one was watching.

"That was close! Sure that gate-dude didn't see us?" Mike pulled out his ball cap to wear.

Leo adjusted his stocking cap so it covered his neck more. "Eh, let's check out the place while it's still early." He started toward the barns.

"Who painted them, some color-blind puke?" 

Don woke up from his nap and got around to doing what he had promised. First, he pulled out a couple of newspapers, but found nothing. Then looked to the television in search of any news reports and horse races. But, when he turned it on, an interesting movie caught his attention.

Splinter quietly walked in from behind the couch. He had thought the lair was empty. "Donate-"

"_Whaa_! Geez, don't do that!"

"My apologies. Thought you were with others, why here?" Splinter asked him.

Don glanced at the television. "Uhm... they let me stay and do the paper-work."

"I doubt 'Ghost-Busters' would help." Splinter struck him on the shoulder with his walking stick.

Don missed protecting himself from the stick, only to back himself with another excuse. "I was... I was goin' to switch to ESPN," 

"Your reflexes are slowing down; does not take ten minute to change channel. Or to block my strike." Splinter responded dryly to his excuse, as he left him.

Grumbling, Don soon found some races and scribbled down certain horses shown he felt would be winners. Then happened to come across an up-dated news report about one more missing horse, while waiting for the start of a race on another channel. He returned to that channel just in time for the race, and watched.

"Oh, and they don't allow visitors running lose around the barns either." Mike decided to tell them. "The last time I was here, they had barn tours set up."

"So, we should sign up for a tour?" Leo wondered.

"Yeah, and then once we get in the barn area, we could sneak away from the group. Or somethin'." Mike told them his idea.

Raph shook his head, "Mikey, there's still hope in you yet." _But you aren't comin' here to do what I think you're doing._

"Let's go over to the grandstand area for information," Leo started walking in that direction.

They followed Leo into the crowds gathered by the betting booths. Mike looked around for an information area. Instead, he was attracted to a monitor listing the horses for the next races. Leo left him and Raph there to find something about the tours.

"Check it out, By Sacrifice...Thorn Dance, I've heard good stuff about them." Mike informed Raph. _He's not Leo, he could care less if he knew I've been betting._ "Shit, that's a opportunity I'm gonna miss!"

__

Is it? Raph gave Mike a sly look.

Mike didn't see that, but instead saw Leo gesture they should join him. "Look's like he found the tour, or somethin'."

The tour guide led the big group down to the barns. She informed them about the prominent racing farms that were racing today, the history of the racetrack, and the layout of the barns. The three turtles remained in the back of the crowd, as to remain inconspicuous to the rest of the visitors.

"Um, Mike, where's Raph?" Leo realized he was not in their group.

Mike looked around and shrugged. Then it dawned on him. 

"Damn, it's like some kind of bad habit he has..." Leo groaned, "I hope he gets by the guards,"

The tour guide stopped in the aisle way of a barn to speak. Despite his contempt for Raph, Leo thought this was a good time to look around. Glancing into an empty stall, something strange caught his eye. It was a small paintbrush, laden with dry black paint, lying in the straw. After checking on what the tour guide was doing, he entered the stall to look at the brush - it could be something useful. But as he walked over to it, he kicked up a piece of paper from the straw. _What's this,_ he thought, picking it up. It sort of looked like decorative stationary, but then, with the numbers, currency. Leo put it into his pocket and picked up the paintbrush.

Leaving the stall, Leo joined the group again. He saw Mike talking to a colored groom getting a horse ready for the next race.

Leo stood by Mike, "I'm no expert, but he does look like something."

"Yep. Aren't ya, Sackie?" the groom agreed. He stayed on the other side of the horse, not at all looking at Mike and Leo.

Leo decided it was good the man didn't actually see them. But he winced upon hearing the horse's nickname. _Saki? Nah..._

"That's _thee_ By Sacrifice," Mike's eyes made contact with Leo's.

The groom finished and chuckled, "You bet!" Still not acknowledging the two, he led the horse out from the stall.

Leo watched them go, just when he was startled by a very familiar voice.

"'You bet' is right!"

"Raph! Where the hell were you?" Leo turned around to face him.

"Easy, Leo, you'll upset the horses." Raph mocked his soft voice. "Didn't I just tell you."

"Aww, shit," Leo crossed his arms. "_How_ much?"

"I only put down a few dollars."

Leo continued staring at him and cleared his throat.

"Look, I just put down a couple dollars on each horse, for a trifecta."

Leo stepped closer to Raph, "What if you _lose?_"

"Leo, Leo," Mike stepped between them. It was clear now Leo knew nothing about race track betting. "A trifecta is when you bet on the top horse in three races. If those horses win in each race, we'll get a shit-load of cash. If we lose, we'll just lose six dollars. It's like buying a lottery ticket, Leo."

"But if any of the horses come in second or third, we'll still get something right?" Raph asked Mike.

"Yuppers!" Mike nodded.

"Y' know Splinter doesn't like us gambling." Leo reminded them. "That was _six_ dollars we could have used on important stuff..."

"Who'dja bet on?" Mike ignored Leo, to ask Raph.

"By Sacrifice." Raph pointed to the stall.

"Alright! And Thorn Dance too?" Mike's eyes got big. "You shouldn't be totally flipped Leo, they're fast horses. Sacrifice is even the son of a Triple Crown winner."

"Straight from the horse's mouth." agreed Raph.

"Great," Leo was slowly realizing what Mike had been up to for so long. Raph too, for all he knew.

Just then, an announcement broadcasted for the next race. "Mike," ordered Leo. "Stay with the group, just in case something happens. We're going to the races."

The two found a decent spot outside the grandstand area to watch the racetrack. It was hard to tell them apart, Raph noticed, as the horses were being loaded into the starting gate. But not impossible, since there were three chestnuts among the other bays. It became clear who their chestnut was when the pack of horses rumbled to the down stretch.

Raph strained to see the results on the sign after the finish. "_Alright_! The fire of By Sacrifice burns them to _win_**!**" he yelled, clinging to the fence.

"We still have two races to go," Leo brought himself back to reality.

"Leo, it was my money, okay. Not Casey's, or Yoshi's." Raph sat back on the grass. When they were growing up, Splinter managed to withdrawal the rest of the savings from Hamatto Yoshi's (his human owner) account. Now April struck a deal that she would pay them cash whenever they do some work for her.

Leo was not going to give in. Gambling was gambling. "Still, if you lose, Raph, you just threw away money you could used on something better."

"Like what? Pizza and beer?"

Mike sneaked away from the tour and hid in one of the stalls reserved for hay and tack near By Sacrifice's stall. A reasonable amount of time passed until he heard the welcoming hoof beats of horses coming. Soon he saw the distinguished sweaty chestnut through the cracks of wood in the door. "Yes!" Mike whispered, sensing the beaming pride coming from the groom and horse. He quietly watched as black man held the horse while another stable hand removed the saddle. The groom covered Sackie with a blue cool-down sheet.

The turtle realized he better hide before the stable hand went into the stall to put away the saddle. With all the fuss about stolen horses, he could just as well be mistaken for a criminal. Mike spotted a stack of straw in the corner. He slid behind that and covered himself with a horse blanket in such a way it looked like the blanket was tossed there. It worked. The groom and the stable hand hardly noticed his presence, even when he let out a couple sneezes. Mike slowly crept out of his position and left the place when he was certain no one was around.

He had to see this stallion one last time. "Hi guy," he was careful to touch the soft muzzle, so that the horse wouldn't bite him. "Probably never met someone like me before, huh?" he let the red horse nuzzle his fingers. The stallion suddenly raised his head up, ears alert.

Two men in dark street clothes appeared. They acted like they did not plan to see Mike there. The younger man gave Mike a friendly nod. The other guy went to a stall across from By Sacrifice, the one that Leo had been in earlier.

Mike thought they acted rather strange. _Maybe they're security guards._ He overheard one of the men talking, but it wasn't even English. _Could be private detectives. Maybe I should leave before I get in trouble._ Sacrifice continued to watch the men, letting out an occasional snort. "Gotta go," Mike left to get to the barn where he last saw the tour group.

Then it hit him like a ton of bricks. "They...why didn't I think! No wonder Sacrifice was actin' goofy...._those_ guys are after him! Damn..." Mike ran back to the barn as fast as he could.

It was too late. He saw the two men briskly walking with Sacrifice down the aisle. They looked like they were just walking the horse to cool it out, but Mike knew they weren't. They definitely were not the grooms he saw earlier. His blood beginning to boil, Mike ran in hot pursuit after them. He fell short after tripping on a hose coiled in the aisle. _Yeah, I make out to be great ninja material, _he thought as he quickly got to his feet. The turtle continued a few more steps, but the two men had disappeared with the horse in the labyrinth of barns. Mike got even more upset over the fact that there was no one around to see where they went.

His other brothers waited by the outer limits of the barn area. When Mike approached him, the look in his face already told half of the story.

"You don't look good, Mike, what happened?" Leo asked with concern.

"Uhh...they got away with By Sacrifice..." Mike turned around to look at the barns in astonishment.

"Gah... he was _the_ horse, and you just _let_ him get nabbed!" Raph snapped. "That was the whole reason why we were here!"

"I couldn't help it," Mike turned to face Raph. "I thought, at first, those guys were PI's. It wasn't until too late... and why _they_ were actin' strange."

"Wait, Mikey, bring me by these guys -- did you get a good look at them?" asked Leo.

"Uh, yeah, there were two. I didn't get a good look at them, but they didn't speak English and they looked Asian."

"Hold on, that was the same place I found this stuff." Leo pulled out the paintbrush.

"A paintbrush with black paint on it, okay." Raph sighed, looking around the barn.

"And a piece of paper--"

Raph gave it a good look. "It's money from someplace, Leo."

"Right, I was going to say that," Leo reasoned with him.

Raph looked around, a little more wary. "The crowd's startin' to pick up, I say we shell the joint before _we_ get framed for this little incident."

"Guess who left this world, again." Raph took off his hat. His topic of discussion was asleep on the couch.

Leo turned off the TV, then picked up a piece of paper from the floor. "Well, he did at least get...something. I can't read it."

"Lemme give it a shot," Mike took the paper and cleared his throat. "It's... on 'missing horse' names."

"That's a big help." Raph added his sarcasm. He sat on the armrest of the couch.

"Uh...oou're vack?" Don mumbled as he stretched out.

Raph looked down at him. "You know it's not safe falling asleep with a _pen_ in your mouth."

The others started to laugh when they noticed that.

"Mmh... explains the odd dream that I was some racehorse, chomping at the bit." Don tossed the pen on top of the broken table and sat up.

"Donny-boy, you've been using too much Ben Gay, huh?" Mike teased him.

Leo let out a sigh, one that demanded silence. "Right now, we got worst things to be worrying about."

"Yeah, like where did those guys take By Sacrifice," agreed Mike.

"By Sacrifice? Who?" Don blinked.

Mike started to pace around the room, "Just whisked away in front of my eyes, but it won't happen again."

"I did find this stuff--"

"Stuff? Like evidence?" Don asked.

"Sure enough," replied Leo, going over to his coat to get them. He laid the brush and money on the floor (since they didn't have the table).

Mike kneeled down to study the brush. "Y' know, I remember seein' this one flick, where the bad guys covered up this horse's markings with a paint, or dye, to smuggle out the horse."

Don immediately got up from the couch to pick up the paintbrush. He fanned apart the stiff bristles.

"Hey, hey! You better clean that up!" Mike eyed the pile of dried paint and debris.

Don inspected the small mess. "Hairs to you." he punned, picking up a few horse hairs. With his fingernails, he carefully stripped the paint off of it. He held it up to the light to see a brownish color in the tiny follicle. "And this...brown hair, was the color of the horses I heard missing. I also heard this trainer raising Cain about the length of time his horse has to be missing, before it's _officially_ missing...and needing a detective. "

"If that's a brown hair," Mike finally asked, "why's the paint black?"

"They gave it black legs? I don't know, I'm not Sherlock." Don confessed.

Mike snickered and gave him a playful punch. 

Splinter had again quietly joined their conversation, and had listened a while before they noticed him. "You solve problems well."

"Not quite. Not sure what kind of money this is." Leo offered it to Splinter.

Splinter looked at it once. His eyes softened, as the money was so familiar to him. "Currency from Japan. A 100 yen note." The rat returned a disappointed look to Leo.

"Japanese money? Cool!" Mike wanted to look at it again.

"What you could be dealing with... foreigners from Japan, or people dealing with other there," Splinter concluded. "Possibly doing business with the horse."

Leo gazed upon Splinter, his eyes dead serious. "Could it be the Foot?"

Splinter gave him a somewhat uncommittal maybe.

"Hey, who's hungry for pizza?" Mike got up to look for the phone book. The other four looked at him with surprise. It's been days since they heard him mention pizza.

Later, the four further worked out more details over a couple of delivered pizzas they got with the money.

Don had thought of an idea worth mentioning. "How about looking into going to Japan?" Don didn't look up from his pizza. Then it started to sound like a _really_ wild idea.

"Huh?"

"Are you _crazy_? Why do you want to go clear over to _Japan_?" Raph looked at him. _Mike's right, he's been sniffing the Ben Gay._

"Why? Splinter's not certain if it _is_ the Foot. Could've been anybody's money." Leo gave Don he reasoning.

"They, whom ever, could be smuggling horses to Japan anyway," Don decided to be a little more descript. "So..."

"Another little question..._how_?" Mike reached for another slice. "We're gonna need lots of money to just get the plane tickets. And a big N-O to time traveling too."

"With the money you got from the track," Don shrugged. "Can't believe Splinter doesn't know yet."

Mike stopped chewing. He forgot all about that. "Hey, how come you didn't say?"

"That's why Splinter doesn't know," Raph belched.

"How much?" Mike persisted.

"Six hundred," Raph didn't want to say too much, just in case Splinter was listening.

Mike's eyes grew real big. "Aww, cool!" he never got that lucky before.

"I'll check out the Internet and see if I can find some tickets cheap, or something."

Leo sighed. "I doubt that, you _can't_ find tickets for four passengers under six hundred! Then we still have to get this past Splinter."

"What if we go there: first of all, _where_? Second, _who_ do we find?" Raph was still against the whole idea.

__

I haven't got that far, yet, Don pushed the last of his pizza in his mouth.

Leo looked at Raph. "He's going to want to know where we got the money."

Raph resisted the idea. "C'mon, Leo..."

"Okay, okay, let's invite him over and we'll have a group meeting," Don stood up, "It _is_ my idea."

[FORWARD TO CHAPTER THREE][1]  
[][2]BACK TO CHAPTER ONE[][3]  
BACK TO CONTENTS

   [1]: tmet3.html
   [2]: tmet1.html
   [3]: TMET.html



	3. HI NO DE - 3

HI NO DE - Chapter 3 ****

San...

After they explained Don's plan to Master Splinter, he dismissed Leonardo and Donatello so he could talk to Raphael and Michaelangelo about the betting. Much to Raph's surprise, Mike bent the truth. Mike held back the exact history of his racetrack secret. All he told Splinter was what happened that day, and nothing more. Raph sat before them speechless, feeling as if what he could say to prove Mike wrong would backfire. Splinter would think he was trying to get out of the blame.

Mike walked out with an untold expression on his face. "Doesn't mind that we went to the racetrack. But he didn't like the betting, or goin' to Japan."

"What'd he say to you?" Don asked Raph, noticing his perplexed expression.

"I'm doomed to this place," he sighed.

"He took away all the money too." Mike groaned. "But, um, we can still do something 'bout the stolen horses problem as long as we stay in this area."

"So like, what's with the 'D-day' act, Raph?" Don continued to pry.

"I would just like to know why _me_, and not you too?" Raph looked at Mike.

Mike ignored his glare. "Gotta investment to keep." He left to turn on the TV.

"No television Michaelangelo and Raphael." Splinter then called out from his car.

"Damn!" Mike turned it off and left elsewhere.

"Now that's a punishment." Leo smiled at Raph.

"He didn't say anything 'bout 'sparring'," He attempted to get Leo into a headlock.

The excitement regarding the horses died down. Besides suffering from Splinter's disciplinary measures, the four were in a slump. Leo offered to go out and check the boat dock for signs of activity. Mike, however, thought it would be good to go where the horses were: the country.

"Mikey, c'mere." Don finally got his attention from the old stereo. Wafting riffs of the Grateful Dead resonated through the subway now. _Great, now he's in a Deadhead mood. _He wasn't against the choice music, being a fan of classic rock. It was just that Don wanted to hear Aerosmith instead.

"Hay what?" Mike looked up from the phone book. Don sat on the floor in front of his computer, the other little window to the world.

He nodded toward the screen. "Getta look at this. I found a huge listing of farms upstate. Just stallion ads though."

Mike pointed to the open phone book. "Hmm, nothing but a few stables for New York City--"

"Then check this out."

"How will we get there?" Mike asked.

"Yeah, after what Splinter told us, what chance do we have to get there." Don continued to click through the sites.

"Hey, maybe we could find out where By Sacrifice is from," Mike kneeled down by the crates on which the monitor sat. "Type in his name for a search."

"I'm still getting over the whole idea about going to Japan...about this whole insidious horse case. I'll admit, my idea was just lame. There's just no way we could do it." Don muttered, clicking a few more buttons on the screen. "So what if the Foot take a few horses. What does that have to do anything?"

"Look, Donny, it can't be that phony-- we got other ways t'do it." Mike tried to reason with him. But he was right, they'd grown accustomed to city crime and ninjutsu. The race horse black market was not in their realm.

Leo walked up behind the two of them when he came back. "What's up?"

Mike about jumped out of his shell from Leo's sudden presence. "God, give a dude an coronary, will ya!"

"So-o, what took you so long?" Don teased him. Leo wasn't gone very long it seemed.

Leo shrugged. "Nothing there, but I still want to check it out later tonight. Find anything that concerns the horses?"

"Not much in the phone book," Mike sat on the back of the couch. "But we've got all these listings of farms upstate on the 'puter."

"I'm afraid...this isn't," Don turned away from the screen. "Nothing's happening..."

"What again, Donny?" Leo was confused on what he was trying to say. 

"Let's just forget the horses, nothing's gonna work out--work out good for us, even if we did interfere with what's happening to them." Don explained to Leo.

"You weren't into it from the start anyway." Mike reminded Don in a spiteful way.

"Y' know, we aren't pet detectives either, _Ace Ventura._" Don retorted.

Mike crossed his arms, "So you're giving up?"

Don let out a groan and turned back to the monitor. He pulled the blanket back around his shoulders and put on his headphones, a sign that meant he wanted to be left alone.

Leo looked at Don, then at Mike. _What did I miss_, his look questioned.

"We've hit on a topic he doesn't understand, I guess," Mike swung his leg over the back of the couch to slide down on the cushions.

The overcast sky made this cool night a rather dark one. Orange lights of New York's harbor provided enough light for those who worked there. The docks were not as busy in the middle of the night as they were during the day. That made it a good time for certain loads that don't want attention. This night, if there were any secret loadings, it wouldn't get by unnoticed.

A barely audible sneeze escaped from the shadows behind a stack of old fishing crates.

"Quiet," Leo whispered, laying his hand on Mike's mouth.

"Don't bless me then..." Mike mumbled through Leo's hand. 

"Still nothing." Don about mouthed.

Mike stood up to get a better look, "Shoulda done this, this morning--hey!" Leo abruptly pulled him down by his bandana tails again.

Don peered over one of the crates to study the inactive decks. He saw something different, but not like what they set out for. "Look. Somebody...kinda drunk heading for the end of the deck." Don rose a little more. "Think he's going to..."

"Huh?" Mike looked in the direction of Don's stare. "Ut-oh...that kid does look wasted!"

"Call 911... and stay here." Leo quickly told Don.

"Cover me, Mike." he ran behind the crates in the direction of the teenager. Leo stopped and watched at the last crate to see if the boy was going to jump. He sensed it was real.

__

Here we go again, it's Leo the humanitarian. "What'd ya want me to do?" Mike whispered from behind him.

"Stay here, but if I hafta dive after him, help us." Leo walked out from the crates. He broke into a dead run toward the kid.

The drunken kid did not seem to hear Leonardo yelling, and stepped off the deck neatly. The turtle kept on running and dived off the deck after him. He skillfully found the sinking teenager in the dark water. After his fingers curled around the kid's clothing, he started back toward the surface. Leo started to struggle to stay at surface--the kid had lead in his pockets.

Mike recognized Leo's struggle and dived in to help.

"Get the weight...outta his pockets!" 

He did just that, trying to avoid Leo's kicking legs. Mike automatically pulled out a grappling hook and caught it on a boat tie-down on the deck._ This better hold_, he gasped for air.

"Tie it 'round him…and pull him up." Leo shouted. He helped Mike tie the grapple's rope under the victim's arms.

Mike struggled up a cracked, rotten ladder on the deck. This brought back a memory from when they where trying to recover Shredder's body. He shook it off, to concentrate on pulling up the unconscious teenager.

"Man, I'm never going to do that again--I almost went down with him." Leo sucked in air a gulp at a time. His leg muscles still burned from treading water so long. They heard a faint siren of an ambulance in the city.

"Want me to split, while you handle this?" Mike made eye contact with his brother. Leo turned toward the city; it's buildings dominating the skyline.

He knelt by the kid and started pumping on his stomach to force the water out. "Yeah...don't want this turn into something big." Leo told him. 

"Something big?" Mike wondered.

"Yea, like, 'The Ninja Turtles Now Save Lives' or something," Leo quickly explained. He really wished Mike wasn't so naive at these times. "Now go!"

Soon after, an ambulance and a couple of police cars arrived in full siren. Leonardo cringed from the racket, for they usually split when the boys in blue arrive. He stepped into the shadows to watch after the ambulance located the kid. They promptly took care of the teenager as he slipped away. Leo hoped Don told them enough information over the phone.

The three soon returned back to the subway, but not as enthusiastic as they were earlier. The emergency vehicles interrupted their intention to watch the docks. All that activity made the scene too risky for the Turtles, and very unlikely for anything else to happen. The brush with the dark side of this world slowly began to plague them too.

"But, _why_ do those humans try to kill themselves like that?" Mike seriously asked. "It's… stupid."

"They don't have anything to live for, or they hate life…that's what I've heard." Don answered Mike, only to fulfill the opportunity to answer a question.

"Yeah," Leo considered Don's points, "I hope that kid gets some help...it's lucky for him that we happened to be there."

"Can _nothing_ be that bad to die for." Mike went on.

"You sure?" Don checked him. "What happened to 'Turtles die with honor?', Mike?"

Mike remained silent. Honor doesn't amount to 'nothing' though. But honor…and revenge? They themselves are trained killers. Why did it seem different when they kill to avenge Splinter's honor? That seemed glorious compared to meaningless death.

"It's different when you fight and kill for something else than being able to survive...." Leo voiced his own opinion. To live…and die…by the sword. Suicide…it's similar, it's sometimes justified, "But it depends what one is using suicide for. Suicides by the 'warrior code' meant dying while there's still honor. That kid was trying to kill himself because he was giving up." Leo reached out to grip Mike's shoulder in reassurance. 

"You wouldn't believe what happened," Don mentioned when he went into the diner car. "We stopped this kid from a suicidal attempt."

"Suithide victum?" Raph looked up from the refrigerator, biting into a ham sandwich. "Now that's a first," he said after swallowing.

Don nodded.

Raph took a swig from his beer can. "What did you guys do, catch him jumpin' off some building?" he asked, with a smirk.

"No. We saw him, obviously under the influence of something, walking off a deck into the water. Leo and Mikey dived after him." Don explained, looking into the fridge.

"Hmm, and you were…?"

"Calling the ambulance," Don pointed to his right leg.

"Cripple."

__

Time for me to exit stage right. He decided to leave the car before things got worse. 

"But I wasn't just sittin' on my hands," Raph put in his last words, leaning out of the door. "Splinter had me doing better things. Saving people…_humans_!"

"What's your problem, bro?" Mike looked at Raph as he went into the diner car. _Besides the obvious funk you're in._

Raph crushed his beer can down on the table. "Since when da hell are we protectors of humanity? The world'll never welcome us, dammit--we're _freaks_ to them! We can't even go up there without clothes an' hats, or hidin' in da shadows, for chrissake! Can't even legally earn mucho dinero!"

Mike's eyes narrowed. _Then there's Raph…his priorities in life are all messed up._ "So… we should've stood by and watched that kid deep six it?"

Raph waved an arm at him as he turned away to leave the car. "Go spank yourself, Mike," he snarled behind him.

"Say what?" 

The following day started out cold and rainy, very fitting for the present mood. The Turtles did not have much else to do, concerning the case or likewise. Yet, Splinter provided them with such exercises and other useful activities as usual. And as he expected, he saw a wall of spite building up between Raphael and Michaelangelo. He knew Mike had lied to him, and another part understood why. Raphael, however, placed the bets while they intended to focus on something else. Had they not left Mike alone while they watched the races, the three could have found out more on the criminals, perhaps where the men went. Often times, the hard way turned out to be the only way to teach them a lesson.

The cold war between his two brothers also bugged Don. At least it remained a cold war. Whenever those two got rowdy, he would find himself busy for weeks repairing stuff thereafter. _Why hadn't Raph told Splinter about Mike? Or is he piling the guilt onto Mike until he breaks down and confesses?_ Leo also seemed to stay out of it. But this all resulted from something Don wasn't even a part of, so why should it concern him? _...cause I don't like the hate fights. _

Gradually, he lost himself in the midst of replacing the muffler system, among other things, underneath the junk heap they called their van. As long as it could keep him and Raph amused, that old Volkswagon van April gave them was decent enough. But it was far from being driveable out on the open roads, as they still needed to rebuild the engine. 

As much as Raph's cold war baffled him, those racehorses also plagued his thoughts. Maybe if he stopped ignoring the horses, and opened his mind up to that world. He also had some ideas that could get them upstate to the farms. Giving up on the van, Don finally took aside Leo and Mike to see if his ideas checked out.

"Train hopping?" Mike gasped, "Yeah, right!"

"If we're desperate enough," Don suggested, wiping some grease from his arm. The two shook their heads in disapproval.

"I did think about hitch hiking yesterday." Mike said. "But.. they don't always go where we want them to.

"What are you guys stormin' up now?" Raph leaned on the back of the couch. "Thought the trip to Japan was a bust." Splinter too joined them, interested by the outlandish topic at hand.

"No, we're thinking of a way to get to some farms upstate." Don explained. "Like sneaking onto a train in hopes of coming across equus caballus."

"In hopes of? Like there's going to be too many cows and hill jacks?" Mike avoided eye contact with Raph.

"Maybe we should have done that instead of going to Japan, way back on Saturday." Raph pointed out an obvious detail.

"I think not." Splinter shook his head. "I still don't want you to go. Now, I feel this problem will not be a good one, nor will the men be easy to deal with."

Mike turned to Don with a look of defeat and left to the diner car.

"Not like I could be of any help," Raph looked at Leo then sat on the couch.

Splinter left them with what he had now seeded in their minds.

That evening, Leo came across Don and Mike in the diner car. Yet, he wasn't quite expecting the two to be putting canned-food in a paper bag.

"What are you doing?" he finally asked Don.

Don had trouble coming up with the exact reason.

"Um, for, uh, a food drive." Mike told him.

"I didn't know we did that now?"

"Yeah, we do now. Uh-huh."

"Oh… make sure you guys save some food for us." Leo said with a grin, looking into the bag. A map of New York was visible, but just one can of corn. "Really, what are you doing?"

Mike looked at Don, then motioned Leo come over. He checked out the car door to make sure no one was within hearing range. "Tomorrow morning, be prepared to leave for Project Horse." He whispered. "Pack light, with those latex masks April's Spielburg friend left us."

"What?" Leo looked at him, but soon lowered his voice. "You mean we're sneakin' out...anyway?"

Mike nodded, with a grin. He turned up the radio, just in case Splinter, in the car next door, could hear them.

"You're hell-bent, Mikey. What did Master Splinter do to you to deserve this?" Leo remarked. "And what of Raph?"

"We'll tell him later. Considering it'll be the only way to get away from here, I don't think he'll disagree." Don explained. Yet, he noticed Leo wasn't as enthusiastic now.

"I really don't think it's a good idea." Leo spoke up. "The trip idea's okay, it's just what Master Splinter had said about the danger--theses guys could be packing some pretty hefty artillery. And we're sneaking out, behind Splinter's back!"

"Hey, we've been about through everything." Mike whispered. Deep down he felt the same way. They were trained to fight ninja and Oroku Saki, not highly armed criminals. But he liked the challenge of just slipping away from Splinter. "Like I said, be ready tomorrow...and make sure Master Splinter doesn't know - until he reads our note." He gave them a 'thumbs up' sign, then left the car.

"But Mike…"

  
[FORWARD TO CHAPTER FOUR][1]  
[][2]BACK TO CHAPTER TWO[][3]  
BACK TO CONTENTS

   [1]: tmet4.html
   [2]: tmet2.html
   [3]: TMET.html



	4. HI NO DE - 4

HI NO DE - Chapter 4 ****

Shi...

The four woke up the next morning knowing fully what faced them. On their way out of the old subway, it appeared as if Splinter was not aware of their actions.

"I snuck some Nyquil into his dinner last night." Mike confessed to Leo. He fanned through the money he took before sticking it into his duffel bag. "I hope he'll forgive me later."

__

Yep, definitely hell-bent, Leo sighed._ But here I am going along with them._

They weren't sure too sure what Splinter was going to do when he discovered they'd left. The final outcome, they decided, was not going to be good. The four traveled to the nearest train yard, hoping this plan will work out.

"Is it going to do this all day?" Raph looked up into the dark sky, tasting the cold rain. The weather had been like that for days now.

"Is it five in the morning?"

Mike nudged Don to ask about a train car.

"Yeah, that's the line, and there's one with the door open." Don surveyed the train.

Leo wiped the rain off his face. "Be careful, some bum might be in there too."

"Whatever, I just need more sleep than this..." Mike headed toward the car.

Splinter proved his suspicions as correct when he finally woke. His faithful four left anyway. The letter he found fully explaining their dismissal meant nothing to him. _Michaelangelo, I thought you would've known better_. The distraught rat looked up with a sigh.

Time and time again he told them not to do such things for a good reason - for the sake of their own safety, not just about being a ninja. He loved them like a father. They're very existence in his life meant a lot to him. After Hamatto Yoshi was killed, Splinter thought he would never know the comfort of love again. All the same, he felt guilty to use them as tools to avenge the man who killed his owner. It was his honor for Yoshi that drove him to seek revenge. What a contradiction it seemed. Did his sons still hold the same honor for him? What was it that turned them against his advice? The fact they were kids, tempted by the freedom of adulthood explained much of it. They would soon figure it out, the hard way.

The old master still felt strongly the four turtles were no match for top-notch criminals armed with guns - unlike Oroku Saki, packing only the gunpowderless weapons of ninjutsu. Not yet. The only hopes he had for his sons now were that they better know their ninjutsu and how to avoid the bullets. That was his only regret, the fact bullets move faster than they do. Splinter walked back into his part of the subway car to think. Maybe this time the four will learn. Maybe this time.

A couple of hours had passed as the train they rode pressed ever westward into upstate New York. A couple of the guys had dozed off from sheer boredom and the cold dampness. Only Raph and Don made an effort to stay awake. They didn't want to miss the point where they get off to hop onto another train. The final destination was a town called Obernburg. However, the train could go as far as Youngsville. It was almost one in the afternoon when they jumped from the train there.

The four walked downtown on a sidewalk by Main Street. Mike sighted a diner kind of restaurant and suggested they get something to eat. Once inside, the hostess seated them in a booth by the window.

Leo looked over the menu before speaking. "Obernburg's a few miles from here, right?"

"Yep, and we're walkin' all the way there," Don confirmed.

"Oh no, we're not!" Raph pulled his coat and gloves off. "Damn, I'm burning up in this mask an' shit" 

"How about getting some service. This place is making me uncomfortable." Leo looked around Raph for their waitress. "Are you guys ready to order?"

Don nodded, then glanced over to Mike. He didn't seem to be paying attention to them. "Hey, Mike, decide on what you're going to have?"

"Yeah." Then he nodded his head in the direction of the booth behind him and Don. "These guys behind us, they're talking about horses and racing." Mike lowered his voice, "I'd swear one of 'em's the trainer of the black girl horse--"

"Y'mean a filly?" Don interrupted.

"Yeah," Mike agreed, then narrowed his eyes. "Have you been studyin' the dictionary again?" He noticed Raph and Leo where interested in the news now. "Anyway, I think I recognize one of those guys, like the trainer I met at Belmont Sat'rday."

Raph leaned toward Mike. "If you're sure that's a trainer of a racehorse, go an' talk to him!"

The waitress finally came to their table to ask for their orders. Immediately, the four hid their hands under the table. Since they took their gloves off, the true skin showed. As soon as she left, Mike turned around to look at the people behind him. One weathered face did look familiar. This middle-aged man sat on the side of the table that faced him. In the seat right behind Mike's sat a man and a woman in their early thirties. Maybe it was the toddler sitting in the high chair at the end of the table that threw him off.

"Okay," Mike cleared his throat and turned around, "Hiya there." He suddenly felt stupid when they halted their conversation to stare at him.

"Hello," the trainer tipped his old ball cap. The woman also turned around to see the bunch of teenagers. He and another wore hockey jerseys, while the other two in sweatshirts were Asians. They certainly didn't look like anyone she knew.

"I don't know if you remember but, I'm Mike. We've met before at the Belmont Racetrack, on Sat'rday?" Mike explained, inconspicuously pulling his sleeves over his hands.

"Yes," the trainer wiped his mouth with a napkin once. "I vaguely remember meeting you. You were, ah, looking at Over and Out. What a coincidence we meet again." He looked once to the couple before asking. "So, what brings y' out this way."

Mike turned away to cough instead.

"So, you're the owner of Over an' Out?" Don turned around now that the ice was broken.

"Oh, no. No. I'm her trainer," he nodded his head towards the other two. "This couple in front of you owns her."

"You're the young man who's fascinated with the disappearance of racehorses?" the woman asked Mike. She swept her brown bangs from her eyes. Sunlight glinted from the rims of her gold-framed glasses too.

"Yeah," Mike cleared his throat. He also caught sight of the wedding ring on her finger. _Damn._ Then glanced over to her husband with short red hair. "We all are, actually."

Mrs. Edgley looked up to the other three. "Your friends? Interesting."

"Are you from this area?" Mike wondered.

"More or less, we're somewhere between Rome and Utica. We're on our way back from Belmont." she smiled. Her face was clean and natural, without a trace of make-up.

Don pulled his sleeves over his hands, then leaned on the back of the seat to listen. He looked once at Mike, who seemed to be fascinated with the lady. _Mike, must you flirt with every lady you meet?_

"Uh, we're not quite sure where the...criminals could pop up next, but I wonder if it be possible if we could stay someplace at your farm. Y' know, since it's in the horse racing scheme of things." Mike spit out a spontaneous idea.

"Mi-key!" Don protested. That was _not _in the plan.

Leo and Raph sat up, upon hearing this request.

"Oh, um," Mrs. Edgley turned around to face her husband and the trainer, then looked back to them. "I haven't heard any troubles of the like happenin' around here, to tell you the truth."

Leo whispered, "Forget it Mike, we don't even know the--"

"I thought we were goin' to Obinburg." Raph added.

Don started to understand Mike's motives now. "Yeah, we were going to Obernburg to find a horse farm. But we got one right here now."

Mrs. Edgley looked at her husband next to her. He hadn't said much about all this yet. "What do you think?"

"In a way, they seem as if they have no place to go," he softly spoke, so they couldn't hear him. "Are y'sure they're not just a bunch of run-away kids?"

She gave that a thought. "We'll make sure they don't cause any trouble. I may just make use of them on the farm. Y'know how Mick is about needing more help." He just looked at her, the silent kind of okay. He rubbed his auburn mustache and nodded. The wife got Mike's attention, "It'll be okay for now. But, you can stay in the barn, someplace warm. We want you to work for your keep, though."

The waitress brought out the food the four had ordered earlier. That temporarily broke up the matter at hand for a few minutes.

Leo glared at Mike, as he chewed on a french fry. Just when he thought he had him figured out, he does this.

"Had our reasons--" Mike told him, "tell ya why later."

"Whatever it is, it's that _we're_ in for some drastic measures to _not_ let them know...and that _ain't_ goin' to be a picnic!" Leo argued, quietly.

"So? What's wrong with tellin' them? They seem like the type." Mike reasoned. At the moment, he really did not want to argue over anything until he stopped his hunger pains.

"**_So_**?! So what if they _don't_ believe us? Y'know how irrational small-town people are!" he tried to keep his voice down. Mike just gave Leo a look as he ate his hamburger.

Raph banged his glass down. "Leo, just shut up and eat. They look like they're leavin'."

"Let them know when you're ready," the trainer informed them. After he told the couple he'll be on his way, he left. The young family had drove separately.

Mike stuffed the last of his burger into his mouth. "I gotta go t'the bafroom real quick." He mumbled to the others.

Leo paid the tab and the others came back from the restroom, they joined the young family. "You're lucky we came in our van, " Mrs. Edgley lifted her son from the high chair.

"Heh, you're lucky we're traveling light, " Don slung his backpack over his left shoulder. He then pulled his bo from under the table.

She gave it a curious look.

"I strained a muscle in my leg...it's my walking stick," Don told her.

They approached an old, blue Astro van in the parking lot. It turned out to not be big enough, though. With the child's car seat and their luggage combined, it was a tight fit for all seven. Then Mrs. Edgley told the four the trip ahead may take a couple hours.

Don nervously grinned at the tawny haired next to him. He had that kind of grin that gave Don the creeps. _Great, I'm sitting next to Dennis the Menace._

Then Mike started cracking his gum to ease his own tensions. _Man, these people better be as good as they seem, or I'm up the creek. And I'm stuck next to Raph._

"Cool it wit da gum, will ya." Raph jabbed Mike's arm.

The van drove through more fields, hills, and simple towns. Mr. Edgley lessened his concentration on driving to find out a little more about their guests. "So, where in New York City are y'from? On the island, or near China Town." he asked, since it was Leo and Don who had Asian characteristics on their masks.

"Nah, we're from a place between Brooklyn and Queens," Mike replied. He certainly wasn't going to tell them exactly where, of course.

"Oh, yes, I Gary and this is my wife, Steve." Gary though to introduce themselves. "That's our son Todd."

"Um, call me Mike, and he's--" Mike pointed to the seat behind him.

"Leo."

"I'm Don."

"Raphael."

"Get that?" Mike asked with a sniffle. _Oh no, not another sneeze, no..._

"Shouldn't you be in school?" Steve adjusted her glasses. "You look like high schoolers, that's why I ask."

"We're still on Thanksgiving break." Don nodded.

"Hmm, your school must have a long break. The kids in our area go back on Monday." Gary rubbed his chin.

"How did you get involved in this crime stopping?" Steve still didn't believe their horse story.

"It just...sorta happened," Don replied, not giving that question much thought.

"What's your technique for it?" Steve relayed another question.

"Technique? Like what?" Don misunderstood. _Talk about playing a hundred questions..._ He leaned on the back of the seat between Mike and Raph.

"How do you stop the criminals? Do you corner the criminal and call the police in?" Steve clarified, now looking back at them.

"Yea, just like that." Mike agreed with her suggestion, grinning. They better change the subject. She's getting too close.

"Martial arts, you boys are into some kind of martial arts." she felt she was getting very warm, from the expression on a couple of faces. That helps explain Don's injury and his 'walking stick'. It wasn't like she hadn't seen a bo before.

"There are ten-something types around: which one in particular do you mean?" Don smartly questioned her close call.

"I give." she groaned. But she _didn't_ give. Not in her mind. She still sought an answer. Her assistant manager studied a form of Japanese karate and the sword. From what she had picked up from his conversations, the world of martial arts was not alien to her.

Mike finally gave up on his internal battle against his sneezing fit. The force of the discharge made it his mask uncomfortable. Fortunately, it changed the subject towards something else.

"That doesn't sound at all good." Steve turned around and narrowed her eyes.

"Na, just gettin' ovaa dis flu ting." Mikey hoarsely replied. He stayed bent over, his hands covering his mask face. _C'mon, turn back around._

"Yeah. Real bad, with everything." Don emphasized the fact. Mike groaned in protest.

Steve finally turned to watch the road again.

On cue, Mike turned around real quick and whispered to Leo, "Y'gotta help me...my mask's a mess now." He leaned over the seat back. "Getta Kleenex from my bag, and..."

Don realized the situation and created a distraction, "What's the name of your farm?" he asked the Edgley's.

Leo looked at Mike, "You want _me_ to wipe your beak?"

Raph turned around for a quick look. He settled back down into the seat with a grin.

"Yeah, quick." Mike whispered as he carefully lifted the bottom half of the latex mask. "Gah, this mask sucks..."

"You owe me for this..." Leo groaned.

"It's Rising Dawn Stables. An 80-acre farm with twenty horses. We also have a couple of stall barns, a half mile track, and a small indoor riding arena." Steve briefly described their place.

"Hmm, we have a friend who has a nice farm up in North Hampton." Don remarked.

"The facility's fairly new, as a training facility for thoroughbreds, even though the farm itself is old. She owns the farm while Mick trains the young-uns for the racetrack." Gary replied.

"That's neat." Mike settled back down in the seat.

"You okay now?" Steve asked him.

"Yeah, I'm okay. I had somethin' in my eye..." Mike rubbed one of his eyes.

But he was more interested in what he heard about the farm. He asked what the stable's colors were, out of curiosity. He had wondered about them when they were at Belmont, so he could spot Over and Out on the racetrack.

"Oh, it's purple and orange- the colors that stand out in an early sunrise." Steve explained. "But, the colors the jockey wears are just white and orange."

"Um, where's your horse?" Mike brought himself to ask.

"Ah, she's being taken care of by Mick, the trainer you met earlier. They left as a separate party from New York." Gary explained to him.

The trainer, Mike temporarily forgotten about him. But it was true many racehorses are known for their trainers than their owners. Other racehorse owners don't know beans about their animals. They just want the recognition as the owner of the horse if it does well; but if it doesn't, the poor animal is as good as dog food in its owner's eyes. They don't even give the horse another chance, or a better home. Luckily, there are others that want to know everything about their horse, are understanding with its development, and stay in contact with their trainer to see how things where going. Not to mention hiring the best jockeys for the horse. From what he learned about Gary and Steve so far, he was the second type of owner: kind and understanding. In these thoughts, Mike thought of something that would help them. It was something he mentioned to Don earlier. Like a shared brain wave, Don was thinking the same idea.

"Hey, Leo," Don nudged him, for he was dozing off. "I think I got one answer why those guys are taking those prime racehorses. It could be 'cause they are hungry for fame and fortune from those horses, after a little trickery on their part." he quietly explained the best he could. That was the latest mystery to them- why the horses were being stolen and smuggled.

"Don, _that_ could be it." Leonardo accredited him, shaking a finger.

"Hey, I gave him the idea," Mike tried to get credit too.

They approached the foothills of the Adirondack Mountains. But the clouded gloom from the rain made all the scenery look the same. Not much more that was significant was said, for the four turned onto road games.

Mike looked out to see a road sign. They were almost to the destination. He saw Raph leaning against the glass window, sound asleep.

"Raph! The door's ajar!" Mike tugged at Raph's coat sleeve. Considering the trouble between him and Raph, Mike thought for a moment that wasn't a good idea. _But what the hell._

Raph abruptly leapt away from the glass, almost sitting on top of Mike. He came to his senses as Mike literally fell apart in laughter.

"Godda...Mike, I _hate_ it when you...mmrggh!" he tried not to lose his temper in front of Gary and Steve.

"You really must've been out of it," Mike calmed himself down to a chuckle. "There's no _door_ on your side."

Raph merely twisted Mike's arm until he was pleading in pain. At that time, the two had attracted some attention from the others in the van.

From what could be seen of it in the dark, were mostly many trees and a flood light on the barn. The house was back in the hilly wooded pasture, just across from their large barn. It looked almost like any good horse farm would look. Gary turned off the narrow road onto a driveway just as narrow and rough.

"There barn- we now home!" Todd exclaimed, pointing to the barn mostly hidden behind a light fog.

"That's ..." Mike turned to cough away from Raph.

Raph and Leo looked though the same window to see the place better. There was a tall half-stone, half-wood barn in the front of the farm. Its weathered stones and the dark red, wood planks continuing to the roof saw its old age. It also had a belfry at one end with a weathervane of a trotting horse on top. Behind this big barn was another wooden one that was more broad than tall. Enclosing many of the pastures was a network of old stone walls, with an extra railing of white fencing on top for height.

The van pulled into the two-car garage to the right of the house. A few yards to the right of the garage stood a broad barn. Mike noticed the truck and horse trailer parked outside the garage, next to the barn. Steve wanted to see how things handled for Mick, so she left for thew barn.

Don volunteered to take a small tack trunk to barn as well. He hooked Leo on the other end and followed Steve to the barn.

"Is it still raining out there?" Mike asked as he pulled his luggage from the back. "Like, not that it really matters."

"Tell me when you walk out." Raph pointed out the garage door.

"_Fun_ny," Mike walked by a shiny, red, Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited next to the old van. He noticed that the tan seats were even leather. _Hello. Somebody's rich here._

Raph and Mike helped Gary carry luggage up to the house's back door, while the others returned from the barn. This house was an old two-story stone one with many tall windows in white trim. The stone was dark with age, but covered with vines and moss growing in some places, almost like that on the old barn and fence line. The back entrance had a small weathered wood deck before it, with small bushes and pine trees nearby. Most of the deck had a large rack of firewood taking half of the space.

Steve came up the stairs. "We do have a spare room upstairs we just use as a den. I'll letcha stay there, if that's all right with you. The weather's getting cold, and I can't see you staying anywhere else."

"Well, um," Leo thought aloud. This presented that certain problem again. "Would it be okay if we stayed in a barn? We're not going to stay long...maybe one night."

"If you insist, but I would feel better if you stayed here." Steve focused on Leo's dark eyes. "You don't deserve to be stuck in a barn when the weather so awful. At least stay in the house until you go to sleep t'night."

Leo looked at the others. They seemed to have the desire to go into the house too. _C'mon, you guys..._

[FORWARD TO CHAPTER FIVE][1]  
[][2]BACK TO CHAPTER THREE[][3]  
BACK TO CONTENTS

   [1]: tmet5.html
   [2]: tmet3.html
   [3]: TMET.html



	5. HI NO DE - 5

HI NO DE - Chapter 5 ****

Go...

Gary had taken Todd and much of their luggage inside. He also turned on a few lights as he went upstairs. Steve invited the other four into the house. They walked into a small room that looked more like a hallway. The front half was the foyer to the front door and to one side was a curved stairway. The place held a comfortable glow from the polished maple wood on the floors, walls and trim.

Mike forgot where he was and took off his mittens. Just a minute later did Steve get a glimpse of his green hands. She didn't think they would be the glove type, but it did give her an idea.

Then Mike promptly stuck his hands in his coat pocket.

"I'll show you the room upstairs anyway, just so you can put your stuff down." Steve started up the stairs. "I'll invite you for supper too."

In the wide but short hallway, Steve pointed out the four rooms, starting with the one on the left. "This is Todd's room, over there is our room, across from it is the bathroom. Next to the bathroom here is the den. This is where I'd letcha stay, if you want." she told them, opening the door. "It's also a guest room when we need one."

"Thanks again, Mrs. Edgley. But really," Leo said, putting his bag on one of the couches in the room.

"And this couch, it's a hide-away." She pointed to the same couch. "Take off the cushions, and pull the mattress out." She also showed them where she kept the extra blankets.

"I just don't feel right about us staying here like bums. Take this, as a payment," Leo offered her some of their money.

"No, that's--"

Leo was not going to take no from her. "Take it, it'll make all of us feel better."

"Oh um, what time is it... uh..." Don asked her in an off-handed way. He wasn't sure if they were in a different time zone now. Steve pointed to the grandfather clock at the end of the hallway. He promptly left the room to reset his watch.

"You all can call me Steve. I don't mind." She decided to spring the question that's been bothering her since the trip. "I've been wondering, do you guys also wear turtle costumes?" Steve saw a couple of them freeze.

"W-what did you ask?" Leo faced her.

"As a group back in New York, do you wear turtle costumes, or something, as a gimmick?" Steve repeated, more descriptive. She swept some of her straight hair behind an ear.

"_How_ did'ja guess that?" Raph walked up to her.

"From a newspaper article last fall, complete with a picture." Steve explained, pacing around the room. "It was about the show you put on in a night club, while trying to stop a criminal freak. You did something called 'Ninja Rap' with that Vanilla Ice guy."

Leo looked over to Raph and Mike and sighed. _Splinter was right. That occurrence was going to haunt them for the rest of their lives. _But they had to do something...they didn't want the people to think they really were a bunch of mutants trying to kill each other.

Don returned. He sensed uneasiness in the room now. "Did I miss something?" he whispered to Mike.

"She's getting hot, firey hot." Mike blew at his bangs. _And so am I._

Don gave him a confused look.

"She's seen the newspaper article about us in that night club, remember that one?" Mike lowered his voice.

"No copulatin' excrement--"

"Personally, I think we should tell her-- I mean, if we want to get anywhere here. I don't care what Leo says, I don't wanna sleep in a barn. And these, mas--" he noticed Steve and Leo looking in their direction.

Steve suddenly felt guilty for asking them in such an intruding way. "Oh... I'm sorry. I didn't know this was confidential," she turned to leave.

"Uh...wait, wait-" Mike called to her.

She turned around at the stairway.

Mike glanced at Leo. _Leo?_ He seemed to still be dumbstruck about something. "Do you really want to know the whole story?" Mike asked.

Her eyes seemed to be stuck on Mike's reptilian hands, studying the wrinkles of the leathery green skin.

Don looked at her and took in a deep breath, "We don't wear costumes, we really _are_ turtles."

"So you're aliens, or something?" Steve interrupted.

"No, mutated turtles," Raph broke in. "Y'know all that shit you humans throw down the drains and into the sewers? That's where we came from. We were once normal pet-shop turtles before we got into the crap."

Don really didn't like how Raph said that. It wasn't all true. "Actually, it was some kinda alienated radioactive toxin produced a couple decades ago by TGRI, Techno Geological Research Institute, a by-product of theirs that had gotten into the sewers. As luck had it, we were at the wrong place at the wrong time." 

"Mutated turtles?" she wondered, "You don't look like a turtle, or is it--"

On cue, Mike peeled off the latex mask from his face to reveal his true self.

"We're in disguise, so we could get around without attracting attention." Don pulled off his gloves. _At least we weren' t supposed to._

"Yeah, I've got the shell to prove it," Mike lifted up the front of his hockey jersey to show the brown plastron underneath.

"Mikey! Just strip tease for the lady," Raph was shocked.

"Oh my word," Steve sat down on the couch. She stared at Mike as he wiped the sweat off his terrapin face. As soon as she realized how much she was staring, Steve only looked at them a glance at a time. "This is so...strange."

Todd came running into the room, happy to find Steve. When he saw Mike, he thought it was a funny mask he was wearing. But how come his mommy didn't look amused. "What wrong mommy?"

Gary came up the stairs and walked by the room. A few seconds later he was in the doorway. "What's the problem?" he had sensed an uneasy atmosphere from them.

"They, they are real turtles, mutant turtles." Steve got up and walked to Gary.

"Weally?" Todd's eyes lit up. It was something funny to him.

"The one and only!" Mike had to break the tension before it broke him.

Gary remained speechless as he looked at Mike. Then Steve called Todd and left the room with him. "How, how could this be? I have never seen anything like this," he sputtered out the words.

"Um, Don, you're good at explaining this." Mike looked back at his brother.

Raph walked to the back of the room, "We came from pollution, what more's there to say."

"I'm a theriogenetist," Gary squinted his eyes in thought, "But you are something I have _not _witnessed before. There are theories and myths of such...mutations, like the Island of Dr. Moreau, but, this...you?" he stepped closer to Mike, to inspect his face.

He was close enough for Mike to see the green in Gary's pupils. "Hey, look, I'm _not _on display." He stepped back, almost to hide behind Don.

"Incidentally, we weren't a special genetic experiment created to prove something, nor the offspring of a demented scientist who's gone astray." Don looked down to the floor and rubbed his hands together. "We're...we're just a freak accident. Y'see, a factory in New York City, possibly one that specialized in genetics, disposed of some of their radioactive by-products in the sewers. Coincidentally, this coagulated toxin was where we fell into the sewers, when we were normal box turtles. This substance inverted our genetic code and caused us to mutate, kinda like evolving physically and mentally."

"Amazing," Gary nodded.

"Yeah, it's amazin' Don talks like that," Mike whispered to Leo and Raph.

"That happened 16 years ago," Don finished.

"Are you still evolving? Does the toxins affect you?"

"Not really. It's more like a mutation, since the definition of the word _evolve_ doesn't quite fit what happened to us. We mutated completely a few weeks after exposure. But, I imagine the stuff exists in our blood and tissues now."

"Now you can walk upright, talk, express emotions, you're clearly sentient..." Gary expressed. "I imagine you move much quicker now that your appendages are longer. Are you warm-blooded too?"

Don crossed his arms. "We are now," his voice was of a matter-of-fact tone.

"But, why do your physical attributes look crossed with homosapien genes." Gary walked a few steps more into the room. "You have teeth now, and your appendages and vocal chords posses qualities of a human."

"I dunno. I _still_ wonder about that myself," Don sighed. "But I think all species go down roughly the same evolutionary path--every species is just at a different point."

"So how were you educated?"

"We watch a lot of TV." Mike shrugged. 

__

I bet you'll ask how we figured out what a TV was, next. Don noticed Raph's disgruntled expression.

"Mr. Edgley, look at it this way," Raph stepped up to him, "Shit happens, to me, to you, to everyone...and we don't know why. There're questions out there without answers." Raph pointed to himself and looked at his brothers. "We are one of them. So just take it easy and live wit it." He crossed his arms and glared at Gary.

Gary turned his focus to the others and nodded. "So you won't be needing any special treatment then?" he checked.

They nodded 'no'.

"Well, I guess I'll be leaving you to your...means now." he left the room.

"Thanks for everything!" Don called out.

"I guess we're getting better at it with time." Mike sighed, peering out one of the two dark windows.

"A theriogenetist, damn." Don crossed his arms and shook his head.

"Show-off." Mike snickered to him.

"What is that anyway?" Leo asked.

"A scientist, or a doctor, who specializes in genetics, and theorizes ideas for genetic advances." Don explained.

"_Damn_," Raph finally agreed.

"_Man_, I don't know _what_ I'm going to do without you, Websta-tello." Mike patted Don on the shoulder.

Don sighed and took his mask off. He put it down on his backpack and left the room. "But my brain's fried," he rubbed the sweat off his brow and leaned on the banister of the stairway. He heard Mike smirk from his remark. Then there came a pattering up the steps.

It was Todd coming up, but he didn't go far when he saw Don.

Don grinned nervously at him and waved.

Todd, on the other hand, turned tail. "Mommy, mommy! Dare still there!"

"Talk about first impressions!" Mike stood by the doorway, laughing from the incident.

"Very funny," Don shoved him aside to get through the door. He figured Mike was being that way to shake the nerves that built up.

Mike decided to go downstairs and see how Steve was. He spotted her in the kitchen to right of the stairway.

Todd was at the table, coloring in a coloring book. Steve apparently explained to him who the four were in more detail.

"You turtle? Mommy said you were." Todd questioned Mike.

"Uh, yeah, totally." he stood at the doorway.

"Weally?" Todd then asked, still coloring. "Y'don't muv sluwo."

Mike nodded, then walked over to Steve so he wouldn't end up being quizzed. "So like um, what's cookin'?" he asked peering over her shoulder.

She was startled by his presence. "Uh, pea soup, my homemade kind." Steve opened the third Mason jar out of the trio. "This is sort of a impromptu fair I do for large groups. Um, you do eat human food?" Steve asked, slightly aware of their position. Then she remembered what they ate at the diner, and wished she hadn't asked the question.

Mike stood back and glared at her in a mocking way. "If you like, think that we eat _like_ turtles, we're going to hafta sit down and have a talk." Mikey shaked a finger at her. He smiled once, then went over to answer Todd.

"Yes, of course." Steve confirmed, pouring the jar into a pot on the gas stove. She glanced at him talking to Todd, and realized she forgot his name. All she could remember now was that he was the one who showed her his shell.

"Forgive me, but what's your name again?" Steve asked him.

"Michaelangelo...er, Mike," he answered, turning around.

"Michelangelo? Is that your real name?" She repeated with a grin. "Who, how did you get that name?"

Mike sighed, "That's a long story too,"

Don walked into the kitchen, looking for Mike.

"And you're, um..." she then tried.

"Don."

"Hey, tell her your _real_ name, Donny," Mike poked him in the arm.

"_What_?"

"Yeah."

He looked at Steve square in the eyes and cleared his throat, "Donatello."

"That's cute," Steve said, "after the Reconaissance artists."

"Um, that would be 'Renaissance' artists," Don corrected.

"Whatever."

Don stepped back out to the hallway. "We're going outside to study the perimeters of this place," he asked Steve. "Is the trainer still here? Y'know," he swept his hand over his green head.

"No, he goes home at night." Steve smiled. "But, if you want to get anywhere here, we might need to tell him about you four."

Don nodded thoughtfully.

"Like, shell it," Mikey anxiously replied, heading for the back door. He made note of the barn they saw when they left the garage earlier. "How about checkin' out this barn first?" The big, old barn out front didn't look occupied by animals.

Don turned right from the deck with out hesitating.

"If it's open."

"When are they closed?"

The barn was unlocked and the two entered, after siding open the tall, wooden door.

"There shall be _light_!" Don punned, after finding the light switch.

The big, round, flood lights on the rafters above slowly generated. A spacious indoor arena became visible to the right. There was a row of varnished, oak stalls to the left, running the length of the barn. The first room to the left looked like an office. Next to it, was was a tackroom. The walls near the office were adorned with dusty ribbons and a few framed pictures of racehorses. The arena itself looking like a good one, with a sandy footing and colorful fringed banners hanging from the rafters.

"I think I like it." Mike walked to the stall after the office and tackroom. A card on the stall door said "Delilah". He continued down the stalls and read the names out loud as he looked at the horses.

"And Over and Out...hey, Over an' Out! What's happenin', girl?" Mike stopped to look at the black filly for a minute. "Who's your neighbor...Total Eclypse, spelled with a 'y'. And, Jontondo...hmm. Then Tally Ho...doesn't look like you race a lot. And last but not least...Sundanza. Hey, you're a stallion!" he grinned. Mike slid down to the next stall and found it only had some bales of hay in it.

"Thanks for the introductions, Mikey." Don walked into the arena.

"Man, I thought _our_ names were long." Mike walked back toward the office. He stopped to look at the pictures by the office. The wall held some old pictures of the stallion, Sundanza.

"Admit it, you're getting to like horses too." Mike decidedly told Don.

"Well, we're animals an' they're animals, so it's a mutual thing." Don looked up at the rafters and studied the construction of the barn. He was making note of the structures, to see how a criminal, or a Foot soldier, could sneak in and hide. "I guess one reason why I don't like animals, is 'cause they're so _unreliable_. Take a computer for example, they'll do what I tell 'em to. They don't have a mind of their own, unless they have a malfunction or a virus. But that's even controllable. Animals...you have to feed 'em and clean 'em, and they _still_ have their own ideas about you."

"Hmm, that's why I like animals," Mike thought out loud. "Speaking of which, I hope Splinter's taking care of Klunk..."

Don opened the aisle door by the hay stall, "Looks like there's more to see around here..." There were a couple more stall barns behind this one. He also wanted to see what the barn up front was all about.

Rather numb from the cold rain, the two walked into the back door of the house. In the living room glowed a warm fire from the fireplace. Mike decided to sit by it to warm up. Gary was now sitting in front of a computer at the other end of the room. He did not turn from it when he greeted Mike.

Don continued upstairs. He didn't really want to talk to Gary at the moment.

"Have fun in the rain?" Raph bluntly asked Don, in the midst of finding a good station on Mike's radio.

"Yea, they have 4 barns and 9 mares, 4 yearlings, and a stallion," Don responded tactfully. "It was advantageous, but she said they had twenty horses. I only counted 15...must be out in the pastures."

Leo pulled his katana blades and leather belt from his duffel bag. "Heads up, Raph." Leo tossed his sai to him. "Got 'em back from Splinter."

Raph caught them, "No shit!" _I missed these guys_, he inspected the shine of the metal before setting the sai next to his bag.

Don jumped when he heard Steve knock on the door.

The three settled down at the table. Gary and Steve served the soup to everyone, then said grace. They ate in silence for awhile. Steve checked on Todd, then looked across the table to Gary. He and Raph exchanged uneasy looks. The other three at the end of the table kept to themselves.

Gary decided to break the silence with a question directed to anyone. "May I ask where you're from? The likes of you seem as if you jumped from a comic book."

A few seconds passed before Mike spoke. "New York City, as before." 

The table fell silent again for another minute, before Steve turned to Mike, who sat next to her. "I don't want you to take this the wrong way, but...can I touch you?" 

Mike shrugged, and looked past her glasses into her brown eyes. He gave her a look that said okay and pulled his left sleeve up.

Raph put a hand on his brow, laughing to himself. "Can I _touch_ you?" he repeated in disbelief.

Steve felt warmth come from Mike's arm when she placed her hand on it. Then she slid her other hand under his, looking at it as if he got a manicure. The muscles in Mike's arm grew tense, as his instincts kicked in. He wanted to pull his hand away; it seemed too damn intimate to him.

She continued to study his hand, running a couple fingers across the wrinkles on his knuckles. The skin felt soft like a snake's skin. But, it had a tough, leathery texture typical of turtles. Steve looked up at Mike. His facial expression told her how uncomfortable he was. She sat back and folded her hands on her lap. "Like your nails," she smiled modestly.

"Yeah, I do pay close attention to those, heh," Mike buffed his nails on his jersey and inspected him.

They all were laughing now, mainly to release the tension that built up again.

"I noticed you don't have much of a smell," Gary mentioned, while they were on the topic, "Like, well, the turtles kept as pets."

"That's 'cause we take showers." Raph promptly replied.

Don pushed his soup bowl aside and sat up. "But really, those turtles are kept in aquariums that aren't cleaned out often," he explained to Gary and Steve. "Do realize they're swimming in water with their excrement. The matter sticks to the shell and the skin, making them smell worst."

Steve couldn't resist asking. "Do you sweat?"

"Do horses sweat?" Mike responded.

"Yeah, you humans have a smell to us, like dogs have a smell, and fish have a smel--ahh."

Leo kicked Don's shin under the table. That last remark was just unnecessary.

They remained silent for awhile again. Only Todd was heard as he played with his spoon.

"This is why I didn't want to come inside the house," Leo finally spoke, "I was afraid all this would happen." He gave a sympathetic look to Steve, then Gary.

"It was a risk we had to take," Raph told Leo. "But if..." he looked across the table to Mike, then back on Leo.

"Hey!" Mike protested.

"You were the one to 'show an' tell'."

"Knock it off!" Leo told the two. He focused his attention back to Gary and Steve. "It's in our training to be secretive, not because of ninjutsu, but because of Master Splinter's fear of what humans would do to us...especially if we meet the wrong kind."

"Ninjutsu." Gary repeated.

"Who's Master Splinter?" Steve wondered.

Leo put his hands on his face. They slid down from it as he sighed. "All I ask for is some privacy."

Steve looked at Gary, then reassured Leo, "Don't worry, you're secret's safe here. We won't exploit you. But, it's just that we're so excited to see something like you."

"Well, y'see, Master Splinter trained us to be ninja." Mike told Steve.

"Ninja?" Todd repeated, "Ninja, you are?"

"He's a rat from Japan that got into the same stuff we did." Mike continued.

"And he mutated, evolved like you did." Steve checked.

Leo nodded. "He trained us to go after the head of a ninja clan that killed his owner."

"Stupid pet tricks..." Mike grinned only a moment. "But his Foot clan is still around. We think they're takin' the horses."

Leo sat up. "That's the real reason we're pursuing this situation. If we didn't think the Foot was involved, we wouldn't be here." He stood up and took his bowl to the sink. Raph did the same.

Steve nodded. Gary's eyes met hers as they tried to accept this.

Don sighed and looked at Gary. Maybe he still could be a help to them. "You mentioned y'were a theriogenetist. So, are you a doctor in that field?"

Gary nodded yes. "I work at a lab in Utica." he also got up and took his and Steve's bowls to the kitchen counter.

"What do you work with?"

"A variety of livestock, for now." He sat back down.

"Horses?"

"Yes, we do some with them," Gary cleared his throat. Just the understanding of science this turtle had surprised him.

"What kind of things do you do?"

"We're looking at the possibilities of embryo transfer for the equine, better forms of artificial insemination, and the like."

"Do you do that here at this farm?" Don felt like he might be on something. These were ways to get good genes from good animals, and use them efficiently. But more importantly, he wanted to make sure Gary would not to turn them in for research.

"No," Gary looked over to Steve for a moment. "The Jockey Club has strict breeding guidelines for Thoroughbreds. They only allow natural means of breeding."

"Why?"

"Excuse me, but are you Mike?" Gary interrupted.

"Um, no, I'm Don." he pointed to his brother, "He's Mike."

"The Jockey Club prefers strong standards in tradition in the racing field. I guess they figure if it works why fix it." Steve replied.

Don sat back in thought._ We should be safe from him._ He noticed Mike gave him a curious look, one that wanted to know what he was up to now. Don got up and left the table with his bowl. "Here, I'll take that," he took Mike's bowl too. Then he offered to help Steve do the dishes.

__

Fine, don't tell me, Donny. Mike went to the living room to see what kind of shows were on TV. Sitting down on the long sofa on the right of the room, he couldn't help thinking how the place looked as if came out of a 'Country Living' magazine.

He wasn't alone for long. Todd eagerly joined him on the sofa. "Any ideas on what to watch, little guy?" Mike asked Todd as he flipped the channels with the remote. It didn't take him long to realize they didn't have cable. Todd just shrugged, trying to watch the three second pauses. Gary suggested there was a good movie on one channel.

He tuned to it and found it dull. Mike sat back into the sofa, and flipped through a horseracing magazine that was on the table in front of him.

"What's up?" Don asked, wiping his hands on his pants.

"That's a good question." Mikey mumbled, putting down the magazine.

Todd had his end of the couch claimed, sound asleep as he sucked on his thumb. "But I think he's got the answer for the intensity scale." Mike pointed to him.

It didn't take Don long to notice Gary's computer at the end of the room. He asked Gary about it, just to start some kind of conversation.

Mike left to go upstairs. He was barely in the doorway when Raph tossed him a beer. He had to reach to catch it.

"Uh-oh, we're startin' to slip." Raph gave Mike a concerned look.

"Like, where'd you get this?" Mike turned a glance.

"Stashed a six-pack," Raph falsely smiled. He had his own reasons. Being in the same room with Mike was one of them. "And why'd you bring this?" he pointed to Mike's radio.

Mike shrugged as he cracked open the beer. "Never know when it'll come in handy,"

"What's Don doin'?"

"Talkin' computers," Mike belched. "He noticed Gary had one."

Raph belched even louder. "As soon as he gets up here, I think we gotta talk about tomorrow. What's the plan gonna be?" he looked over to Leo.

"Well, I imagine Steve's got some work planned for us. After that, we'll get to business," Leo explained.

"But _what_?" Raph pushed his point. "You know how I don't like waiting."

The latter of the house had somewhat settled down. In respect, the four kept to themselves by reading or sleeping. After some time, Mike's patience with the silence finally snapped. "Man, I can't stand it! I _need_ some music."

__

"Shhhh!"

"Just keep it below one," Leo sat up from the bed.

"Yes!" Mikey triumphed, going over to the duffel bag to get a tape. As soon as it began, Mike realized he accidentally turned the volume up instead of turning it down. The sudden burst of Green Day caused literal deafness for a split-second.

"Damn, _Mike_!" Raph threw a pillow at him.

"Uh...sorry," 

"Think I'm going to be deaf for the rest of my life." Don picked up the book he was reading.

Mike was still awake despite the fact it was the middle of the night. He laid there on his stomach, peering out the window into the rainy night. The light that illuminated the front of the big barn showed through the window. Despite the soft rain or his drowsiness, he couldn't go to sleep. That seemed strange considering how much he slept before. But it wasn't all from excitement either. He had started coughing and it wouldn't go away. Then he was stuck sleeping on a hard floor. Don seemed to be snoring louder than usual.

Miraculously, Don stopped for a blessed long time. But then he whispered, "Still awake, Mikey?"

"Bingo," Mike whispered back. "I just _can't_ sleep."

"Why don't you get a drink of water, for that cough?" he quietly asked.

"Uh, it tastes funny." Mike whispered in disgust. 

"Well," Don punned. They promptly gave that one a laugh.

"Have you noticed how everything seems to be fitting in place lately?" Don sighed.

Mike rolled on his side. "Uh yea, like, let the Force be with us."

"But...who's Force? Splinter's? Or--"

"Excuse me, but how about waitin' till mornin' t' get fuckin' philosophical?" Raph complained from beneath his covers.

"Awl, and it was just gettin' deep." Mike fluffed his pillow before lying back down on his stomach.

Only a moment later they were bombarded with an outburst from Todd from across the hall. After a minute or so of enduring the boy's wails, it seemed that his parents where not going to check on him.

"Okay!" Raph said out loud. "When are they gonna--" 

"How about you?" Mike teased him. 

"Well, okay, maybe they're those kind that don't come running for every little thing." Don reasoned. He looked over to Leo, who was also awake.

The four listened to the scared wailing a second more in hopes of it ceasing. 

"O-okay. I'm goin' to see what's his problem." Mike whispered as he crawled from his blankets.

After crossing the dark hall, he slowly opened Todd's door. Todd hid under his bed-covers, badly frightened still. Mike hoped this problem wasn't because of the four of them here. 

"Uh, it's me, Mikey," he began, kneeling down beside the bed. "I won't hurt you...what's the matter?" 

"A m-monster...ovah dere!" Todd stammered, pointing out from beneath his covers. 

Mike turned to see a dark corner with a reflection from the rain-streaked window. "Monsters, huh?" he tried to reassure the boy. "I had those too, when I was little." 

Todd pulled the blanket off his head and looked to Mike. Tears made streams down the boy's cheeks. His sandy hair also stood up from the static created from the blanket. That almost had a melting effect on the turtle. 

Mike turned back around again to study the eerie shape, finally figuring out what it really was. He then thought of something. "Y'know, someone who cared for me said that monsters only like to scare you. They don't like to get you. Know why? The monster wouldn't have anyone else to pick on if he gets ya." Mike smiled, trying to explain it in a funny way. "And they really hate courage and love. Like, show him how brave you are by not freakin'. Then try to be nice to him. I betcha wouldn't find that monster around long!" 

Todd continued to look at Mike. He didn't seem to be as scared anymore. "Is it okay if I pick you up?"

Todd shrugged.

The turtle picked him up, to prove his point with the 'corner monster', and walked over to the dark corner. "How old are ya? Five?" Mike whispered.

Todd rested his head on Mike's shoulder.

Mike made some conversation for him anyway. "You're really big to him. See, he's really little,"

He looked down to the boy holding onto the top of his plastron. Todd paid more attention to his shell, than he did his words. After the boy relaxed more in Mike's arms, he started to trace his finger along the top and front of the turtle's plastron. Todd looked up at him, smiling slightly. Mike also realized Steve stood in the doorway now. The turtle faced her with Todd in his arms and whispered, "I think he's okay now." 

[FORWARD TO CHAPTER SIX][1]  
[][2]BACK TO CHAPTER FOUR[][3]  
BACK TO CONTENTS

   [1]: tmet6.html
   [2]: tmet4.html
   [3]: TMET.html



	6. HI NO DE - 6

HI NO DE - Chapter 6 ****

Roku...

The Edgleys arose early the next morning to go about their usual routines. After Gary left for work, Steve stopped by the guestroom to let the four know about her intentions. She found them still asleep though. "Okay guys, last call to _wake_ up." Steve turned on the light switch.

Don rolled out of the hide-a-way bed with a sheet tangled around him. "Morning already?" he squinted.

Steve became aware of their nakedness, "I'll come back when you're--"

"Cuz he's lookin' like Caesar?" Raph yawned.

"No...you got nothing on," Steve clarified.

"Oh, clothes... they're nothing but disguises, or to stay warm in winter." Don explained as he freed himself from the sheet.

"Why are we up at...ten past six?" Leo finally sat up.

"To feed the horses and clean stalls in the barns," Steve explained, as she nudged Mike with her foot to wake him up. "Might as well use you while you're here."

"What about the trainer?"

"I've been down and explained all of you," Steve nodded toward the window. "He won't believe me until he _sees_ you."

Raph also noticed Mike was not waking up, "Mike, do you need a jump-start?" He retrieved a beer from the windowsill and set the cold can on his neck.

The once asleep turtle stood up in a flurry, ready to attack..._a beer can?_ It seemed particularly funny to Raph and Don. _Raphael_... Mike picked up the can and shook it, as to release its contents on him.

Steve stepped in and managed to get the beer can from Mike. That certainly was something she didn't want all over the den. "Enough! No horseplay or profanity in my house, understand?"

Raph nodded. But Mike looked as if he was to try an explanation first.

"We'll meet you four down in the main barn," Steve told them before closing the door behind her.

Mike picked his blankets off the floor and dropped them on the bed, while giving Raph a couple evil looks.

"What you lookin' at?" Raph pulled his jersey on.

Mick took in a deep breath and set down his lunging equipment. Steve explained to him again why she still let the turtles work in the barn. "They'll be real help while they're here. Beside, you're always complaining how you never get anything done, when the manager and most of the stall cleaners want time off for the holidays."

"True. It's down season now," Mick inhaled long on his cigarette. "But is it safe taking these strangers and putting them around the horses? What do they know...are they experienced?"

"No. But I don't plan to stick them with the horses unsupervised. A couple act as though they know something though."

"They will be just doing stalls." Mick looked out the window. The four were coming.

Steve stepped from the office when she heard them slide open the door. "Good morning."

"Yea, if you call it good." Raph closed the door behind him.

Upon hearing their voices, Mick snuffed out his cigarette before leaving the office. "Well, I be damned!" He stood in the aisle. "The world must be coming to an end, Steve, because those have to be the four beasts from Revelations."

"Um, good morning," Mike greeted him anyway.

"Believe me, they are the same four you saw yesterday in the diner," Steve reminded him.

"They're faces are a lot more greener..." They did have on the same clothes he remembered from yesterday.

"So, um, what're we doin'?" Mike asked.

Steve adjusted her glasses and briefly looked them over. "Would you like to help me feed and water?" she asked Mike. Then she looked to Leo. "I'll take you too."

"Your stuck with us I guess," Don spoke to Mick.

"Of course, we will show you the ropes here." Steve walked into the office.

"I think you better." Raph agreed.

She looked at Mick. "You're going to be okay with them?" The trainer shrugged.

"So..." Mick turned to one of these turtle-men to take in an over view of them.

"Raphael." Raph told him.

Neither of these turtles looked excited to be here. They better do their job. "Raphael, you and your friend will be cleaning out the stalls in this barn." Mick looked at Raph. "I'll pull you aside, to see if you can help me groom some of the mares I'll be working."

Steve left the barn with Mike, Leo, and Todd. She backed the van out from the garage and drove around to a gravel road on the right side of the main barn. "We've got to go back and feed the mare barn and the training barn first." she leaned forward to turn on the radio. The soft, dwangy melody of country music filled the van.

"Oh no." Mike groaned. _God, I hate country music._ Leo just laughed a little.

"Well, it's something you'll learn to like around here, city slicker." Steve glanced back at Mike behind her, then over to Leo.

Mike sat up in the seat, "Weeel, jist slap the doag, an' spit 'n the fiare!" he tried his best southern drawl. It certainly gave Todd something to laugh about.

"_Yeehaa_!" Leo reached up to hold onto the handle over the door. The van started rocking a bit from the rough road.

"That's a good yehah, son." Steve told him.

"Hey, Steve made a funny." Mike held his had out to Leo for a five.

Mike leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "Steve, could I ask ya somethin' personal?"

"Um, yeah?"

"Are you pregnant?"

Leo sat up and looked back at Mike, then faced forward again. They drove by one stall barn.

Steve also looked back at Mike, "Yes...by three months, though. How did you figure?"

"There was somethin' about ya, I could sense it in a way."

"And you wanted t' know?"

"Yeah," Mike shrugged, "hey, congratulations."

Steve looked at Leo, the kind that said don't worry about what Mike asked. After all, she had gotten pretty nosey about them last night. They pulled up beside the brood mare barn. "Okay, let's get a jump on it." she turned off the ignition and opened the door at the same time.

The brood mares were kept out in the pasture all the time. Steve explained to them the barn had open sides, where the mares walk into feeding stalls. The mares knew which stalls were theirs now. All they had to do was put grain in the mangers and check the horses over for illnesses or injuries while they ate. After they fed them, the three drove back to the training barn, where all the younger Thoroughbreds in training stayed.

"_Whoa_**!** You guys gotta check _this_ out!" Mike exclaimed outside the door of the training barn.

Steve and Leo soon joined him, wanting to know. Leo figured it probably wasn't something of extreme importance. Mike liked to make a big deal out of nothing.

"This has to be the _coolest_ sunrise I've ever seen! Then these mountains and the clouds-- _majestic_." Mike replied in awe.

"That's why I chose the name Rising Dawn Stables." Steve nodded.

__

That is a rising dawn, if I ever saw one, Leo smiled to Mike.

Mike looked at Leo, "Yea, you wouldn't see somethin' like that in New York City."

"It's neat, kiddo." Steve turned back to the barn. "But we still got horses to grain."

Mick briefly went by safety measures about being around horses with Don and Raph to prevent any accidents, being as horses are. Then he found a wheelbarrow and pitchfork for Don, and showed them how to clean the stalls. Many of the stalls, however, had gotten bad since their stable hand had missed a day.

After leaving Don with the stalls, he decided to let Raph help him. Mick took the pregnant mare, Delilah, from her stall. He tied her in cross tied and collected the grooming equipment. Mick picked an object that seemed odd in appearance. Mick stopped when he noticed Raph's confused expression. "This is a hoof pick, to get the packed dirt and manure out of their hoofs." he explained.

Raph sighed and looked around. He could tell Mick was still uncomfortable with him. The last thing he wanted to do was work on this farm. They were here to find information regarding the stolen horses.

The trainer sighed. _Must be the other one in a hockey jersey who was enthusiastic about horses._ "Okay. Y'see, horses don't have flat feet like us. They're more sunken in." Mick ran his hand down the mare's foreleg to pick up her hoof. He scraped the debris out of the hoof with no effort. "Not a very pleasant job, but if it isn't done...she'll get a fungus called thrush." Mick went on, hoping that Raph was picking up on the task.

Raph just watched, trying his best to follow what he was saying.

Mick put the hoof down and handed the pick over to Raph. "Pick up her feet by running your hand down her leg and squeeze her tendon."

"Okay." Raph gingerly slipped around the front of Delilah to get to her right front leg. Mick watched his progress to see how he managed. It was satisfactory for the first time. That was surprising, considering this turtle never been around horses. But there was something he saw in Raph's eyes that he didn't like. Mick detected some kind of bitterness in Raph.

"Are we havin' fun yet?" Don walked by with a wheelbarrow and pitchfork.

"Fun?" Raph struggled with the mare's foot. It wasn't all that easy, for the horse leaned on him. "Hey, knock it off," he shoved the edge of his carapace into her armpit, "Where's your manners?"

Mick showed Raph how to curry and brush the mare next.

"When she expecting'?" Raph asked about the mare, as he brushed Delilah's rounded side.

Mick was surprised to hear him ask that question. It seemed like he had no concern for her before. "We hope sometime in January, or just before the new year." he answered, wiping off her face with a towel. "Let's turn her out into the pasture."

Steve drove back to the arena barn to finally feed the horses there. She left Leo up at the training barn so he could fill the water buckets. Steve told Mike to give the grain to horses while she gave them hay them. Mike finished his job soon, then went to the office in search of Steve.

"Okay, what d'ya want me to do ne-" he noticed she was talking on the phone. "Oh, sorry," Mike stopped to wait. He looked around the office, which looked rather nice. It had the usual office stuff, like a computer, lamps, a fax machine, and some file cabinets. There was also a big metal cabinet, probably for horse medications. To his left, he saw an old, brown couch, a small TV and some tack trunks. Shelves on the wall had some gold trophies and more racehorse pictures. Todd sat on the couch too, watching something on TV. Steve had not gotten off the phone yet, so he sat down next to Todd to wait.

One of the mares Mick told Raph to get presented a challenge. As soon as he led Total Eclypse out from her stall, she spotted the wheelbarrow full of grain left in the aisle way. When Raph lead her by it, she shoved him over in attempt to grab a mouthful. Eclypse stomped on Raph's foot in the process. In pain, Raph punched Eclypse hard in her left shoulder. But that wasn't enough. He forcefully jerked back on the lead rope to make her back up. "Yer glad I got _boots_ on--"

Don immediately came from a stall he was cleaning. "Raph! Hey! Take it easy," he pleaded to him.

The mare scuffled back quickly, almost sitting down on her haunches. Raph stopped when they reached the end of the aisle.

Eclypse jerked her head up, still feeling the sensation on her face. The whites in her eyes showed as she looked down at Raph with fear. He glared at her, then turned to face Don. "She stepped on my foot..._hard_!"

"But she's just a _horse_."

Mick walked up to them with concern as well.

"Did you see how she shoved me into the grain?" Raph added. He tugged on the lead rope to take Eclypse to the crossties. She stepped forward gingerly. Her left shoulder and leg appeared sore for a few steps before the lameness disappeared. Whenever Raph stopped, she immediately stopped to show him she was paying attention.

"Yeah, he's gotta temper too, I'll warn ya." Don informed Mick. He was about to go back to work, when he thought to ask Mick a nagging question. "Oh, excuse me."

Mick stopped and turned around.

"Could I use the manure spreader?"

"Hmm, ask Steve when you see her,"

Mick followed Raph to the crossties. "It was thoughtful to correct her for rushing you," he started in a low tone, "but you did get carried away."

Raph glanced at him once, then picked up a brush. "She stepped on my foot."

"You didn't need to hit her like that." Mick stepped up to feel Eclypse's shoulder.

"I'm sorry about that, okay," Raph fingered the brush.

Mick faced him, stroking Eclypse's neck. "Look, I'll work this one, so you can cool off and check your foot. Get some ice on it if it looks bad." He still saw some rage flickering in Raph's eyes.

Raph turned towards the office, trying to not let his limp show.

"And tell Mike to put away the grain and start watering the horses. Thank you."

"_Mike_!" Raph yelled as he neared the office. "Put away the _grain_, and start _watering_ the _fuckin_' _horses_."

Steve put her hand over the mouthpiece and gave him a shocked look. "Watch your language,"

Mike didn't like the look on Raph's face either. _You're not goin' into another funk..._ "Geez, okay," he took his hands from Todd's ears.

As soon as Mike left, Steve hung up the phone. "What's wrong?" she also saw some pain mixed in Raph's angry expression.

"F'kin' psycho hose beast stepped on my foot--ahh, forget it..." he turned away from the doorway.

Steve followed him out of the office, now concerned.

He stopped, without turning to look at her. "Look, just...I'll be alright." Raph walked outside and slid the door shut behind him.

Steve sighed and looked down the aisle way. She heard Don call her name.

"Gettin' everything out, including the wet spots?" Steve walked in the stall. She also looked into Sundanza's for an inspection.

"Yeah," Don answered, "but I'm far from finishing' this one."

"Keep up the good work." she approved, leaving him to finish.

"Wait, wait," Don walked from the stall. "If all these stalls are this bad, Steve, it'll be a helluva lot easier if I had the manure spreader. I won't be wasting' so much time going back and forth to the manure pile." he explained to her. "And I know you have one, cuz I saw it last night."

"Hmph," Steve gave him the evil eye, but smiled. "I wanted to make you guys work."

"Or, it is that y'don't want no one messing' with your new, 60 horse power, John Deer tractor?" Don tucked his pitchfork by his shoulder and crossed his arms.

"It'll block the way of the horses," Steve looked at Mick lunging Eclypse in the arena. They normally use it when the horses are not being worked at the same time.

"Um, not really," Don looked down the aisle. "Lead the horses around, through the arena. And bring out the ones that aren't where the manure spreader is."

Steve hesitated. "Y'know how to drive?" It seemed like the last thing she would ask a teenage mutant turtle.

"Does penicillin cure infections?" Don smiled, "Yeah!"

"Well, you apparently know what you're talking about," she motioned him to follow her to the hay barn up front. _This is good. Help that has some experience._

Don remembered the top part of the barn stored all the hay, while the ground floor below was used for storage. Beside the tractor and manure spreader, he saw an old hay wagon and a racing surrey, among other junk.

"Okay, what's the first thing you do when startin' up a tractor?" Steve tested him. It was nice not having to train somebody for once. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Raph up in an oak tree next to the hay barn.

Don seemed to notice him too. What Raph did was none of his business. But it looked like he was scanning the area for something.

"Turn the key?" he slid open the door.

"No, before that," Steve walked up to the green and yellow tractor.

"Um," Don looked at the clutch and gears on the tractor. "Make sure to put it into neutral first."

"Correct. Climb up, and I'll show you how this one works." Steve stepped up on the coupling between the tractor and the manure spreader.

The roar of a diesel engine sounded through the arena barn as Don drove through the door. Steve still stood behind him, making sure he was doing everything okay. Don brought the tractor to a stop, "Excuse me, comin' through!"

Mike pulled the hose from the stall bars. "Donny?" he noticed who was driving the thing.

Steve jumped off. "Make sure to get the hose out of the way, Mike," she yelled over the clamor of the tractor. "And when you're done, help Don with the stalls."

Mike gave her a dejected look. _Eww, she wants me to what?_

She would tell Leo, and Raph, to also help out when they come back. They'll work on the other stalls with Ryan after lunch.

While lunch was being prepared, Steve found herself talking horses with Don. After he heard all that the farm had from Leo and Mike, he became curious in what they did. She told them Sundanza was the farm's foundation stallion. Sundanza was a grandson of Northern Dancer, an exceptional racehorse from Kentucky. And she was pleased how well the stallion turned out after they hired Ryan. Ryan had assisted Mick in training the stallion since he was a colt.

They bought some more brood mares and started from there. The primary purpose of the farm is to train and sell horses for the auction. They don't breed too much. Eclypse, Over and Out and everyone but Delilah in the arena barn were the performance horses and racehorses. Where as the back two barns house more of the horses they make a profit from. Last year, they put Sundanza and Delilah together for a foal due in January. The other handful of brood mares weren't due until spring. They'll have more mares come in too to be bred with other stallions.

"So, where does Tally Ho tie in?" Don remembered the little white horse.

"Oh, he's a pony I bought for Todd." Steve got some plates out.

"Yea! I ride heem!" Todd beamed. He sat on the floor playing with cars.

"Yes, but I lead you." Steve corrected.

"He rides?" Don shook his head in disbelief, then noticed Steve setting the table. "Need any more help?"

"Almost," Steve replied, "but we're in need of people to eat it."

"_I get_! I get!" Todd called out, running into the living room. "_Lunch!_" he announced.

"Thanks." Mick stood up. "Might have to work on him, kid." He nodded toward the couch.

Mike was stretched out behind a Thoroughbred Journal, sound asleep.

Todd promptly marched over to Mike and neatly jumped on his stomach.

He gave the poor turtle a shock. The boy lifted up the magazine on Mike's face slowly. "Hi Mikey..hungwy?"

"Nnugh...hi, Todd." Mike muttered, as Todd dropped the magazine to the floor. "_Kiaaiiii_!" he suddenly cried, in order to scare Todd off him. It appeared to work, because Todd ran all the way back to the kitchen.

"Does he do that all the time?" Mike pulled out a chair at the kitchen table.

"Only when it's funny." Todd laughed, now recovered from his trick.

"Did'ja fall asleep in the middle of that Black Stallion book?" Raph asked Mike with a smirk.

"It's not the Black Stallion, it was Thoroughbred pedigrees," Mike stepped on Raph's sore foot. Raph jabbed him in the arm, thus causing Mike to spill his glass of orange juice.

"Boys-" Steve groaned. Mike left to clean up the mess on the floor, while Raph acted like nothing happened. Of course, Todd thought the whole thing was a riot.

"There's more help coming out," Mick started, looking at the three.

"So you're telling us to be 'ready' for them." Leo was already ahead of him. "As in disguises, or not coming out."

"Right."

"What time are they coming?" Mike wondered, sitting back down at the table.

"Around one o'clock, or sooner. They haven't been contacted yet that we're back already." Steve replied.

"Exactly how many are we dealing with here?" Leo asked. This was starting to become a pain.

"Two," Steve told him, "plus my assistant manger, Ryan. We also have a manager, but she's on vacation right now."

Leo pretty much broke the silence with a couple sneezes.

"Man, what got you?" Mike asked him, scooting back to the table. But he knew, as much as Leo did.

Mick exercised Over and Out on the practice track behind the main barn. Mike asked him earlier if he could help. Mick told him Over was almost four years old, which then she would be a mare. Horses between the time they were born to four years of age are called fillies and colts, like humans are called girls and boys. They are only called foals up until the time they're weaned from their mother. Mick clarified this for Mike, since he had hard time keeping the terms straight. _That makes her a teenager too_, Mike came to a conclusion about Over. Mike's job at the moment was to keep the time for records, which Ryan usually did.

The sweaty mare glistened as she pounded around the hilly practice track. The way Eclypse moved was very rhythmic as she glided through the cool fog banks scattered about the track. The red horse's trainer needed not to ask for more. The speed seemed unmatched to any other, as the mare's only competitor was just the clock. _The clock...damn._

He thought he forgot something when the pair passed the line for the last time. By the time Mike pushed the button on the stopwatch, Mick was trotting towards him.

"What did you get on that?" Mick asked.

"Um...I- I didn't get it." Mike explained. "I guess I got too carried away watching her ru--"

"I'll let that one go. She felt tired that time anyway." Mick dismounted.

"I think she's good enough," Mike stroked the mare's hot neck. She nuzzled him in return, in hopes of a treat. "Her stride is so open, and from the width of her chest and jaw, she's made to last."

"You're the one I met at the racetrack, no doubt about that." Mick held Eclypse still with the reins. He knew it already from the knowing shine in Mike's eyes.

"Bingo." Mike wiped her wet hair off his hands.

"Know how to ride?" Mick inquired. "Just at a walk to cool her down."

"Is it okay? On her, racetrack born Thoroughbred?" Mike was in shock. He had wondered before what it was like to ride a horse. But one as good as this?

"She's not a fire-ball when she's away from the racetrack," Mick slipped her a mint. "She's one of the smarter horses...almost a troublemaker, in fact."

Mike accepted his offer nonetheless. After taking in a breath, he walked to the left of the dainty red mare. Then he realized how tall she was just standing at her withers.

Mick offered to give him a leg up on the horse. "Y'could make a decent jockey, with your size..just lose a few more pounds." The trainer stood back and watched Mike organize himself on the mare. Eclypse was not going to stand around patiently anymore.

Mike finally shortened up the thick rubberized reins. "Man, she sure does cover allotta ground with one step." He tried to slow down the impatient horse the best he knew how. _By the way. I never been on a horse before, _Mike gave the trainer a lost expression.

Mick had suspected Mike had not all along. He trusted Eclypse enough to teach this turtle some riding basics. From what he's heard about them, Mike should be able to handle himself. Otherwise, he wouldn't dream of sticking a beginner on any racehorse. That spelled out a dangerous disaster for both.

Mick promptly took hold of a rein to stop and hold Eclypse so he could show Mike how to hold the reins English style, which was a rein in each hand. Mike was holding them the Western style, in one hand. 

"Squeeze back a little on the reins, and relax your legs if you want her to slow the walk down. She's alright walking her own pace on slack reins--that's her normal pace. Keep her in a circle around me."

Mike nodded. _And I don't wanna fall off. What kind of saddle is this?_

"Squeeze back on your left rein to turn left, and squeeze back on your right rein to turn right. Yeah, remember to stop the squeeze as a reward when she does turn." Mick watched him with careful eyes. "No Mike... just _squeeze_ the rein on the side you want to turn her. Eclypse doesn't neckrein too well."

"Oh, yeah," Mike pulled up on the left rein. She turned left, as well as bending her whole neck in that direction.

"Easy, now. You only need to _squeeze_ the reins, and keep your hands _down_ in front." Mick walked over to Mike. After Eclypse stopped, he showed Mike how slight the pull should be for good results.

Mike walked Eclypse around him in a better cirlce now. In his mind, he started to carry a full-fledged conversation with the mare. With Mick still watching his every move, Mike certainly didn't want to make any more trouble.

"Not very 'user-friendly', huh?" Don leaned on track's fence.

Mike suddenly looked up in surprise. "_Geez-loueeze_, how long have _you_ been there?" he stopped Eclypse and turned around in the saddle.

Don shrugged, watching the chestnut Thoroughbred chomp on the bit. "Is that the filly Raph's pissed off with?"

"Yeah, but she's really awesome," Mike petted her neck, "He just blew a fuse on her."

"I've got some questions for Mick," Don climbed the fence.

"Donny?"

He stopped and looked at Mike. _Heh, you look so valiant on a horse._

"Could you lead us back to him?" Mike sounded helpless.

Mick chuckled as he walked over to Eclypse to help him dismount.

As Mike unsaddled Eclypse in the grooming area, he heard the front door of the barn slide open. A tall, young man entered, dressed in worn blue jeans and a navy windbreaker. He had medium length dark hair and Asian features. _He must be Ryan..._"Uh, damn...here," Mike gave Mick the saddle and dashed into a stall. He was glad he remembered to stick that facemask in his coat. He heard Mick talk to Ryan about what needed to be done. Certain that his mask was fitted on, Mike stepped out of the stall in the most casual way.

"Mike, this is Ryan." Mick nodded to him when he joined them.

Ryan politely smiled to Mike, before turning to Mick. "Trapped a few more innocent bystanders to clean the stalls?" Ryan teased Mick.

"Yeah but we won't be here for long," Mike felt the need to tell them.

"Are you from the big city?" Ryan asked Mike. He also noticed Mike's NYC Ranger hockey jersey. Ryan thought Mike looked to be type to play hockey.

"Wow, yea, we are!" Mike smiled.

"We?" Ryan made eye contact with Mike. There was something mysterious he sensed in Mike's dark eyes.

"My br-- friends and me. We're just passing through." Mike made note of Ryan's facial features. He looked like he was Japanese. But Ryan's accent was very clean, like he grew up speaking only English.

"But they are doing their share of work for board." Mick grinned. "Here, Mike, make yourself useful and put this away." He gave the saddle back to Mike. The trainer also felt the conversation was getting to close for comfort, and offered a way out for Mike.

"Might be needing some help." Mike hinted, shouldering the bridle. Unfortunately, he didn't catch onto what Mick was trying to do for him.

Ryan picked up the grooming box and the polo wraps for him. "Your first day?" he asked Mike as they walked to the tackroom.

"Just got here last night," Mike replied, "We're stayin' in the house for now."

"Liking the farm so far?" Ryan opened the door to the tackroom. "Steve can be a real spoiler at times."

"Do I like it? This place is _awesome_!" Mike set the saddle on a rack. "The horses, mountains, clean air it's a lot better than the city." He turned to Ryan, "How long have you been workin' 'ere?"

"Almost a couple years now. I'm saving up money for college with this job," he modestly told him.

Ryan did look like he was around twenty to Mike. "Must be neat working around horses, and doing it for a living. Never would happen for me, just not the type." He followed Ryan out of the room.

"I have an attention, a love, for horses. I don't mind it at all." Ryan walked over to the office. "That's what I keep in mind when I faced to clean twenty stalls all by myself." They heard Mick call for Ryan. "Hey, feel free to help me out!"

"With stalls?"

[FORWARD TO CHAPTER SEVEN][1]  
[][2]BACK TO CHAPTER FIVE  
[][3]BACK TO CONTENTS

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	7. HI NO DE - 7

HI NO DE - Chapter 7 ****

Nana...

Steve mentioned after lunch she would take Todd to his afternoon kindergarten class in town. Leo noticed her getting ready to go, and asked if he could come along. He really felt the need to call home and tell Splinter they were safe.

The roads across the hilly terrain seemed much different that what Leo had expected. He found the rolling hills covered with trees fascinating. The van veered down the twisty road. If the narrow road was not going from side to side, it was going up and down.

Steve looked at Leo, then put her eyes back on the road. He looked like he was bothered by something ever since lunch. "Do you drive too?" She thought of another conversation topic. For some reason, the whole idea of them driving still struck her as absurd.

"Yeah. More or less taught ourselves...with the help close friend," Leo nodded.

"I was surprised when Don wanted to drive the tractor."

"Well, we don't drive a whole lot, cause we're afraid the cops would see us," Leo grinned. "But Don likes messin' around under the hood more than being behind the wheel." He heard Todd ask her something. Leo looked back to the little boy, then shifted his focus. "You did tell him to not say anything about us at school?"

"Yes, but I don't know if he actually will. Y'know how kids are."

They respected the silence for a while. The van passed through a densely forested area. There, a few trees were clinging on to their leaves of red and gold a little longer before winter arrived. Leo could help but notice them, for the pollution in New York City had done something to the fall colors on it's trees, making them mostly brown. It fact, he never saw so many beautiful trees. Yet, he thought how shocking it was how people just chop them down like a mower cutting the lawn, especially in places where the wildlife and environment needs trees.

Todd started to ask her to turn on the radio again. She finally clicked on the radio, so that the drawl of some country vocalist filled the van. Steve grinned and turned the dial to a top-forty station. "The more I get to know you guys, the more I'm intrigued by you." Steve spoke again. He still looked a bit occupied with his thoughts. "The four of you are brothers, aren't you?"

"It amazes _me_ how well you can figure us out," Leo slung back at her.

"Hmm, I guess it's because I've been around horses so long, I've learned how to read them-- through body language, personality, the eyes." Steve explained to him.

"They say the eyes are the window to your soul," Leo nodded.

"Raphael," Steve sighed, "is he usually that belligerent, or is something bothering him?"

Leo sighed. Raph was whom he was trying to _not_ think about. "He's just suffers from a tough guy image."

"Is he okay now?" Steve continued, "He was really mad this morning."

"Yeah, he gets that way at times. Raph thought we should be doing something about the stolen horses. That's why he climbed the tree, he wanted to get an overview of the farm." Leo turned in his seat. _Maybe I should get my thoughts out, to end this puzzle._

"Honestly, Steve," Leo looked at her profile and narrowed his eyes, "Are you allies with the Foot, our enemies?" That question had been eating at him ever since Raph put it into his head.

"Allies with your _enemy_?!" She looked over to him.

"Yeah, just by how you wanted us to stay at the farm, then how you know so much--"

"No, look," Steve had to pull the van over to the side of the road. She put it into park and turned to Leo, "Leo, don't you know the _difference_ between a kind offer and a trap? All I saw of you, before you told me who you really were, was a bunch of teens in need of help. Gary and I thought you were all a bunch of runaways!" Steve sighed and looked back at Todd a moment. "All I was bein' to you is a Good Samaritan. How could you even..."

Leo found her very convincing...the truth shone in her eyes. He had nothing to say yet.

"Do _I_ look like a threat?" she looked at Leo.

"No, but Raph thought you all weren't good. I wasn't accepting his idea, but it seemed so possible." He looked back up to her. "We're always walkin' on eggshells."

Steve faced the road and sighed. "Okay," she put the van into drive and pulled away from the edge. No more was said until they reached town.

"Nice town," Leo commented, looking at the old shops and buildings. He hoped she had forgiven him by now. He didn't like going around accusing innocent people.

"It is, as far as small towns go," Steve drove up to the school. Todd already unbuckled himself from the car seat. "Okay, I'll be back," she left the van with Todd.

Later, Steve gave him a brief description of the town, so he would not get lost, and the store she'll be shopping in. Leo told her he just wanted to find a pay phone to call Splinter, as well as buy some groceries for themselves.

When they returned to the simplicity of the farm again, Steve pointed out Ryan's truck as to warn Leo. But Leo was more surprised to find the two so determined to solve the case in the living room playing cards.

"War?" he confirmed, "And I thought you were going to be able to race in the Kentucky Derby by this time." Leo teased Mike.

"Gotcha again," Don laid down his card.

"Hi Leo," Mike handed Don his stack of cards. He wanted to warn Leo about Raph's edginess, but had to think of a not so obvious way.

"They've been at it for some time, the geeks." Raph was sitting on the couch, watching TV.

"No way, Tractor Boy! A tie?" Mike gasped.

"Yes way..._splittin'_ time!"

"_God_." Raph stood up. He left to the kitchen, just to be confronted by Steve.

"What did you guys _do_ to the kitchen?" she questioned him.

"Uhh...Steve-" Mike stood up. _Don't make him mad, Steve..._

"Hey, it was those two," Raph pointed to Mike. "I was out walking the fence lines." He turned away from her to go upstairs.

"Um, Steve," Mike walked into the kitchen, "Lemme explain, me and Don made you a couple of apple pies, to say thank you for puttin' up with us." He lifted up a dishtowel, which covered the cooling pies. "I just, um, didn't get around to cleanin' up right away."

"Oh, okay," she looked at the pies. "But, apology _won't_ be accepted until you clean up my kitchen, okay."

Leo and Don also came into the kitchen.

"Help him clean up this place," she put a grocery bag on the table. "And get Raphael down here too." she told Leo, as he went up the stairs.

Leo also had something he wanted to clear up with Raph first.

Raph stormed into the guestroom, thoughtful enough to spare the wooden door he closed behind him. He walked over to the window and crossed his arms. They're just sitting ducks on this farm. Sitting ducks waiting for the hunter to shoot them out of the water. The fact they were being treated like barn slaves only made his impatience grow worse. _If nothing happens soon, I'm gonna leave this place. Even if it meant leaving the others behind. _The guilt of betrayal was just tearing him apart...and why did Mike not tell the truth to Splinter.

The door opened. Leo walked into the room and partially closed the door behind him. "Steve still wants you to help clean up."

Raph turned around, "Why the _fuck_ should I, Leo?" He kept his arms crossed.

Leo didn't like his response. Raph's eyes shone with cold hatred for something. "'Cause we're stayin' in _her_ house."

"But I didn't _do_ that!" he held his hands out.

"I don't give a damn," Leo yelled at him, "Y'know, you gotta stop _blaming_ your shit on everyone!"

"_Blaming_?" Raph's eyes narrowed. "You don't even know what Mike's been hiding from you and Splinter."

Downstairs, they heard the loud voices echo down the stair well. "Ut-oh," Mike looked at Steve and Don. _Leave it to Leo to set Raph off._

Leo stepped closer to Raph. "I don't mean on Mike. Dammit, Steve _isn't_ our enemy."

"No way. She _is_, they _all_ are." Raph turned away from Leo.

"Raph!" Leo reached to turn him around.

Raph spun around to knock Leo's arm out of the way, "Leo, don't _even_..."

That broke Leo's last straw. "Raph, listen!" he charged him head-on. Raph tripped over a bag and fell backwards.

Wood cracking followed the reverberated sound of Raph's shell hitting the half-open door. A few broken dowel rods from the banister bounced down the stairs. "That's it, I'm going to stop 'em," Steve left the kitchen.

Mike stopped her in the hallway. "No, don't. Lemme see what they're doin'." He turned to go up the stairs.

Leo was sitting on top of Raph now. Raph had slid into the banister when he fell, bringing Leo with him. Despite the fact his wind was knocked out of him, Raph tried to punch Leo in the mouth.

Leo blocked it. "Listen Raph," he held his arm. Raph choked in air when his diaphragm started to function again. "Splinter told me it's not the Foot taking' the horses."

Raph didn't say anything. He stared at Leo and stopped resisting the restraint.

Leo looked pass Raph to see Mike standing in the stairway. "Splinter thinks it's some guys with guns, and he's worried 'bout that." He got off of Raph, and gave a reassuring look to Mike. Mike turned back down the stairs. His anger subsiding, Leo realized how damaged the banister was and how foolish he was for rushing his brother. He looked at Raph and offered a hand. "C'mon."

"I shoulda never went with," Raph got up on his own. He didn't look at Leo. "Splinter...he's really pissed, isn't he?"

Leo sighed, rubbing his face once. "Are you also mad because you left...we left him, against his wishes?"

"_Yeah_, Leo!" Raph turned around. He looked Leo square in the eyes now. "I only went along cuz I thought we were on t'somethin'. But this..._this_ place is a _dead_ end! And then all this shit she knew about us? How?"

"She told me she's just good at reading us, like she does with the horses," Leo explained, "but I guess you're too preoccupied to see that!"

"You wanna know why I'm preoccupied? It's cuz we're doin' _nothin'_. What was the whole point of this? And Mikey...the _liar_." Raph stepped up to Leo. He pointed down the stairwell. "If I didn't get sucked up in this punishment alone...._damn_, how did Mike weasel past Splinter?"

"Mike didn't go an' place the bets," Leo refuted.

Raph kept his stance. _Is that how you see it?_

"But that's been done, so get over it." Leo started down the stairs. "C'mon, Raph,"

Mike stood at the foot of the stairs, piecing together one of the broken dowel rods. He kept his eyes down until Raph passed by. They gave each other cold looks.

The others had most of the kitchen cleaned up by the time Leo and Raph showed. Raph gave Steve a harsh look when she offered him a sponge, then he took it.

Leo began to explain what happened upstairs to Steve. He told her the damage was his fault and that he'll fix the banister.

Mike walked into the kitchen with the dowel rods still in his hand. He took in a deep breath. "Raphael?" he looked at him, "What were you sayin' about me?"

Raph left the sponge on the counter. "How's it _you_ got outta the betting thing? You've been doin' it all along, then I get caught that _one_ time. What's _up_ wit that?"

"All I said is that By Sacrifice and them was good. I didn't say 'We gotta bet on them'!" Mike held the two halves of the dowel rod in his right hand, like nunchuks.

"Bullshit!" Raph's anger heightened again. He was still mad from Leo rushing him.

"_Bullshit_? Look, we were there to find out stuff, not to bet!" Mike got into Raph's face.

"Stop twistin' it around! You lost the _fuckin_' thieves!" Raph clenched his fists, his rage peaking.

"I do _not_ like this," Steve stepped towards the two. Leo advanced ahead of her.

"No, Leo's got it," Don put a hand on Steve's shoulder to hold her back. 

Mike pointed the rods at Raph, "But I _know_ it when I _see_ an enemy!"

"_Liar_," Raph grabbed Mike's jersey and hit him in the jaw.

Surprised he was caught off guard, Mike returned his punch with the dowel rods into Raph's armpit.

Leo caught Raph's fist in the air before he could retaliate. "_Time-_out!" he pulled the two apart. On most occasions, he would let them battle it out. But not here, they'd tear up the place.

"C'mon Mikey, let's just talk it out." Leo pushed him away from Raph.

"_Loser!_" Mike threw in his last insult as Leo led him to the living room.

Raph held his hands up in the air. "_Losah_? You could do bettah than _that_!" He sensed Don standing next to him. "Get away, geek," Raph swatted his hand. Don dodged him. Suddenly, Raph felt the stinging sensation from a slap on his left cheek.

"You stop it!" Steve stood in front of him. She held a stern look on her face.

Raph was stunned now. _Bitch_...his lips formed the word as he stared at her. A woman before never hit him, even if she was a pregnant one with mood swings. He clenched his fists and raised them.

Not knowing what Raph was thinking, Don stepped up behind Steve. He couldn't believe she did that either. _Not a wise thing to do to Raph now..._ If he was going to take a shot at Steve, Don was ready to stop him.

Steve kept her eyes focused on Raph's fiery ones. She allowed her eyes to use peripheral vision. As she looked him over, she could tell he was only bluffing. Steve put her hands on top of Raph's fists. Just the weight of her hands lowered them.

Raph started to grit his teeth from nerves. He saw a perplexed look on Don's face.

"Easy, Raph," Steve's voice was calming, yet assertive. She ran both her hands up his arms and rested them above his elbows. Through his jersey, she felt how hard his biceps were from the tension. It told Steve how much stress he was under. "Just _relax_, breathe Raph. I'm not gonna hurt you, Don's not gonna interfere, Mike and Leo are in the other room working things out."

He couldn't look at Steve anymore. A million thoughts were running through his head. Raph was definitely against the idea of submitting to her, right in front of everyone. Don somehow sensed this and left them to go to the stairwell.

In order to get his attention back, Steve brought her right hand up to touch Raph's cheek. She found his jaw still clenched. "Raphael, look at me," Steve put her hand back on his arm. Her eyes focused on his. They were cloaked with the same anger she saw earlier, but now she saw some guilt too. "I want this trouble to stop between all of you. It's dangerous and unproductive, do you understand?" But that was not all. Her eyes told him it was okay. She wasn't their enemy.

Raph closed his eyes for a couple seconds. He could finally see what his brothers saw in her. He took in a deep breath and opened his eyes, "I shoulda never left. I gotta go back to the city..." Raph exhaled.

Steve felt his arms relax to some degree then took her hands off. His fight response was gone for now.

"Y'see, Master Splinter grounded me for bettin'. And...my brothers talked me into doing this... escape, just to get outta it." Raph slowly explained to her. "But nothin's happening here." He put his hand under his armpit, where Mike hit him, to stop the throbbing.

"So, that made you feel bad." Steve pieced together his problem. He somehow looked a lot calmer to her.

Raph nodded yes, and let out another guttural sigh. He walked over to the counter and rested his forehead on his arms. If nothing more, he would love to finish beating some justice into that snitch of a brother.

"Do you want to talk to him, your Master, about all this?" Steve paused behind him."I'll let you call on our phone."

"You got to be kiddin'," Raph didn't look up.

"No, I want you to call."

Raph stood up and faced her.

"I know you want to," Steve saw a glint of hope in Raph's eyes. "C'mon,"

"What I really want is a judge and jury," Raph followed her. But she stopped by the back door.

"We're going to the barn office," Steve handed him a pair of muck boots, "Voices carry. And, I need to get some paperwork done."

Raph heard Leo's voice as he talked to Mike on the other side of the wall. He pulled his coat from the hook on the wall and followed Steve out the door.

Mike tried again to reason with Leo about what was going on between him and Raph. "Look, I don't want to loose my cash flow. It's, it's not the money itself, it gets us the things we need. Like food, first aid, computer stuff..."

Leo sat in the chair caddie corner to him. He didn't look moved, just kind of sick.

"Yeah, so April's giving us wages for stuff we do for her...but she can't--I mean, it's like she's supporting us like kids. Like it's some kind of allowance."

"I know. That's bothering me too," Leo nodded. "But you lied to Splinter when he asked about the money and the gambling."

Mike rocked forward in the couch and looked at the floor. "I was afraid of what Splinter would do when he heard my truth. So I lied, even with Raph right there. I wasn't sure if he, Splinter, knew if I was lying..." _Maybe I should try being a lawyer..._

"Mikey, get a grip and 'fess up to him. You, _you_ should know about lying, _c'mon_." Leo gripped Mike's shoulders. Mike lifted up his eyes. "If you could see how it's eating at Raphael. Dammit, you're lying is hurting us more than Splinter."

"Then top it off with this..." Mike muttered. He wondered if Leo realized he had intended to use the trip to think out this gambling problem. Mike knew the second he denied it to Splinter, he already started to dig his grave. But the funeral arrangements haven't been made. "Leo," Mike put his hands on his brother's arms, "god...I'm sorry. We better just go back home. Raph's right, this going here for horses is a dead end."

After Don heard the backdoor close, he came back down the stairs. He paused by the doorway to the living room to listened Leo and Mike talk. "Leo?"

Leo hesitated and looked at Don.

Don stepped into the room, "What _did_ Splinter say?"

"Good timing," Leo gestured him to join them.

Don sat on the floor and crossed his legs.

"Raph, is he okay?" Leo wondered.

"I think so," Don leaned toward the two, "You should've seen it, Steve slapped him cross his face."

"No way!" Mike shook his head. "What he do after that?"

"_Nothing_! Steve somehow... pacified him. She just spoke to him, and tamed him...sorta like what Splinter does." Don explained.

Mike smiled somewhat. _Like he was a horse, I bet._

Leo also shook his head. "Anyway, what Splinter told me was...."

Steve walked back into the office. Raph was sitting on the couch. He had his head back and eyes closed, like he was in thought. The phone sat next to him with the receiver back in place.

"Work out some misunderstandings?" Steve asked from behind her desk.

Raph suddenly sat up, "Yea--yeah."

"That's good," she shuffled some papers. "Look, I'd like you to help me and Ryan finish stripping the last of the stalls in the training barn. They shouldn't be a day long project, but there are today."

Raph walked the phone back to the desk. Her request was not good news to his ears either.

"Yes, I want you to." Steve stood in the doorway, then smiled. "It's a great way to blow off steam."

"Shoveling shit?"

"Yeah, 'shit happens, but we all must deal with it'. Isn't that what you told Gary." She looked at him with a twisted smile.

The three decided first thing tomorrow morning that they'd head back to New York City. Mike set out to the barn to find Raph and Steve and tell them of the news. He also felt he should talk to Raph, if he was in the mood. If not, they were just going to have to take it outside.

Leo still wanted to go to a lumber shop when Steve picked up Todd. They should leave the place in good shape, considering. In his search for Steve, Leo found Raph and Ryan in the training barn having a good time cleaning stalls. Apparently, Ryan made a bet he could clean all the stalls on his half of the barn before Raph did. Raph was a couple stalls behind and being a sore loser about it.

"Welcome to the Manure Movers of America." Mike walked into the barn with Steve.

"You!" Raph stepped out of the stall with a pitchfork in hand. He looked at the pitchfork, then Mike. "Pitchforks, could be a primitive form of sai...wanna see how effective they are?"

Mike glanced at Leo and gave Raph a modest smile. "Uh, lemme find a wheat thrasher, and I'll take ya on. Look, you wanna talk first?"

Raph speared the pitchfork into the piles on the manure spreader. "I've dealt with worse shit than you in the past half hour." He followed Mike from the barn.

Steve turned to Leo. "So you're moving on tomorrow."

He nodded. "First thing in the morning. I _will_ fix the banister by tonight."

She picked up on his subtle request. "I'll be in the house for a few minutes before I leave. Oh, could I ask of one more favor? Could your brothers help Ryan do the evening feeding?"

"I don't see why not," Leo watched her leave the barn. _We've been here for almost a day...why do I feel like I've known her for longer?_ Behind him, he heard Ryan toss his pitchfork into the back of the manure spreader.

"I gotta spread this out in the back forty before we start feeding. Need a ride back to the main barn?" Ryan stood next to the John Deere.

Leo made eye contact with Ryan and smiled. This was actually the first time he's met this kid Steve spoke so much about. "I guess." He eyed the tractor.

"Hop on," Ryan started the engine.

The two of them were silent for a moment. Leo held his gaze upon the pasture to his left as he stood on the back of the tractor. It rolled along at slow speed, which seemed strange. He had seen it go faster.

"You and your friends...you're not human, are you?" Ryan finally asked him.

Leo glared at him.

"I mean, I'm sorry. But I can sense it, like you're actually animal." Ryan glanced up to Leo with a forgiving expression. "I'm sort of...telepathic with animals, horses in particular. With humans, I sense nothing. But I sense a lot from you, Raphael, and Mike-"

"You're right. We're not human," Leo sighed.

Ryan read Leo's discomfort he exposed. "You can keep this between you and me,"

Leo shrugged. "Actually, Ryan, you're the last to find out. Steve and Mick already know."

"So I'm not important?" Ryan looked at him with a sarcastic expression.

"Steve thought so...besides, we're leaving tomorrow." The tractor came to a halt next to the main barn.

"Don't worry about it then," Ryan left Leo with his promise.

Leo had the intention of getting some practice in soon as they finished feeding and watering the horses. The barn's arena was good for it, not to mention being warmer than outside.

"Oh okay, Leo gots cold steel, an' I'm stuck with bare hands." Mike cracked his fists. If he 'd known they were going to do this, he would have brought his chuks.

"You ninja, anything can be used for defense." Don quoted Splinter's tip.

"Well, I'm having a little trouble finding that wheat thrasher," Mike turned to Raph.

"Ahh, just hop on a horse and joist with pitchforks." Raph groaned.

"Hey, that's a good idea!" Don pointed out, "You guys can spar, while Mike and I try things out on horseback!" He gave Mike a 'three'.

"Psyche!" Mike grinned at Raph and Leo.

"Karate then?" Leo asked.

"_Goju Ryu _style?" Raph glanced once at Mike, "I still want t' settle somethin'."

Not after they started to really get down, Mike heard something unusual outside.

"Yeah right, you just didn't want your butt kicked." Raph denied him.

"No really! I did hear somethin' uncool. Like a gate opening and hoof beats." Mike tried to convince him. He had a feeling it was Ryan. Now would not be a good time for him to come in the barn.

Don stopped to listen. "He's right! It might be..." They looked at the front door of the barn, just when they heard a neigh come from that direction.

"_Shit_, let's split!" Raph was already over the railing around the arena.

Ryan came in the barn with Danza close beside him. He walked the stallion to the grooming stalll and clipped the lines to the halter. The stallion's ears pricked. His enhanced hearing picked up a few noises from the hayloft above the stalls. The stallion lifted his neck up a bit. He just could not recognize what those sounds were.

Ryan noticed Danza's tension as he quickly brushed him down. The dark red stallion briefly nuzzled the kid, then looked toward the direction of the mares again. Ryan just shook his head and chuckled, "No, you're not gettin' any today."

Apparently, Leo was suffering from the need to sneeze, which wasn't helped by the dusty hayloft. Raph also put his hand over Leo's mouth to make sure Leo wouldn't be heard.

They watched Ryan lead the stallion to his stall, then left the barn at the other end.

After Ryan closed the barn door, Don sighed, "Cost's clear, guys." He stood up by Eclypse, who nudged him with her muzzle. "Thanks for the escape." Don quickly closed the stall door behind him.

"He's gone, you can snort at me now." Mike nervously grinned at Over and Out. Her alert ears and flared nostrils indicated she did not like his sudden presence. "It's like... awl _shit_!"

"What was that?" Don wondered.

"I jist steepped in hoss shet," Mike took on a hill-billy drawl as he scraped his shoe on the side of the stall door.

Don burst out laughing, turning away from the stall.

Over and Out didn't seem to pay any attention to his distress now. She discovered some more hay in the sawdust. Mike looked at Over with narrowed eyes, "Don't tell me y'got the runs now."

Raph jumped down and walked into Over and Out's stall. He had to wash his hands in the water bucket. "Probably goin' to be the next one to get sick."

"You didn't have to do that." Leo flipped down from the loft.

"Great, now yer gonna make Over sick too." Mike told Raph as he closed the filly's stall door.

"Nah, I don't think your influenza is zoonotic with horses." Don crossed his arms in thought.

Later, Raph and Mike wasted time watching television in the living room. It was more than obvious that nothing was going to happen for awhile. They also had everything packed and ready to go for tomorrow. Leo and Don were upstairs fixing the rods on the banister.

"Okay Mikey, will you _stop_," Raph begged.

"Hold on, I think I found a most excellent something on this one channel." Mike swallowed a bite of apple pie. He flashed through more channels.

"Gimme that," Raph jumped on Mike to wrestle the remote from him.

Mike held the plate up in futile attempt. "Hey, watch my piece a' pie!"

Leo walked into the room and sat down on the couch. He looked at Raph pinning Mike on the floor. _Why do I always have to play Splinter for you guys? _"Give him the remote, Mike...before you two break it, or get pie on their carpet," Leo told him with his usual matter-of-fact tone.

"Thanks Leo." Raph got the remote from Mike.

Mike got up from the floor. _Yeah, thanks Leo...I almost got it from him._ He set his plate on the coffee table and sat on the couch. After just one look, he could tell Leo was not getting any better. "Whoa, looking _not_ good. You feel okay?"

"Bad enough to want some of your Nyquil." Leo tried to smile. He sat back and closed his eyes. "Ryan...there's something 'bout him," he almost spoke to himself.

"Huh?"

"He knows...Ryan. He figured it out we weren't human. Finally asked me today." Leo sat up to explain to them.

"Point being?" Raph turned the mute on the TV.

"Just weird how he figured that out...said he was telepathic too."

"That settles it, this place is definitely a _funny_ farm." Raph snorted.

Mike gave Raph a suspicious look. "You didn't say anything to him?" _But, I did sense something bizarre from Ryan a couple times...like a connection. Or something soul-a-mental._

"No." Raph turned the volume back on. "But we're leavin' tomorrow, so what difference does it make?"

"Ryan seemed to imply that too," Leo rested his hand on his chin and watched the TV screen.

[FORWARD TO CHAPTER EIGHT][1]  
[][2]BACK TO CHAPTER SIX[][3]  
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   [1]: tmet8.html
   [2]: tmet6.html
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	8. HI NO DE - 8

HI NO DE - Chapter 8 ****

Hachi...

A figure cloaked in the inky black of night rode up to the northern fence line of the horse farm. The rider seen enough over the past couple days there. He halted his tall, dark horse to watch the horizon. After almost an hour of standing still, he raised an arm.

Another rider on an equally matched mount joined him. "Hai?"

The first rider lowered his arm, and uttered in his native tongue. "_Itoda-sama_…[before the sun fully wakes, we'll look here.]"

Itoda nodded his head.

The dark rider's horse began to gnash his teeth on the bit in anticipation. His nostrils flared red as his reins tightened and the rider asked for speed. Both horses were able to clear the five-foot fence without breaking stride.

_I ride from the woods and see a bony horse with its head down low. It stands in a clearing by the river. Seeing that alone gives me the chills. I bring Danza to a halt. This poor horse probably got lose, then lost, in this wilderness or something, but this situation didn't feel right._

I press my legs around Danza's body enough for us to move slowly forward. I have no choice but go through the clearing. It's the easiest way of travel along the river. The woods are just thick with the branches of young trees and blackberry thickets. Danza senses my concerns and refuses to move anymore. Despite his insisting advice to not go through this area, I dismount and lead him. The poor mare barely lifts her head to acknowledge our presence. A glint of despair sits in her eyes. Every breath she takes sounds loud and labored, like Darth Vader. And her body, it looks like a skeleton covered with an orange, scruffy hide matted with mud. I tug on the reins so Danza would pick up the pace. A click comes from the bushes beside us.

In a split second, I grab Danza's tousled mane and spring up on his back. I look left, then right for the best exit. Danza's own fearful imagination combined with my tense body makes him hollow out his back and raise his head high. There's serious danger in the area, he gnashes on the bit. I give up on trying to control Danza and let him run into the woods. We'll be safer there amongst the shadows.

Despite the sound of hoofs tearing through the forest floor, I hear a shot ring. In the same second, something stings through me. Auugh… pain… The reins slip from my fingers as the intense burning grows.

Free from my hold, Danza surges forward to a blurring speed. He tries his best to save my life as he saves his own, but he forgets how big I am in his dash. I hug his neck close to avoid the low branches. Danza just manages to pass under the branches, these long fingers with sharp nails grabbing and scratching us. Slowly, everything becomes a blur of branches and bush to me. Are we safe yet, or are they still after me. I look up ahead into the woods. A thick, low-hanging branch appears as my vision of it blurs. The collision sweeps me clean off Danza into a thorn bush surrounding the tree.

I open my eyes slowly, while taking in painful gulps of air. I never liked having the wind knocked out of me. It's not the fall or the bullet wound that bothered me now, it's the thorns. Many scattered points of pain all over my arms and legs itch into me. The tree limb several feet above me, I now remember, hit my jaw. I cut my lip in the blow...all I can taste now is my salty blood. Every time I try to move, a thick vine with sharp thorns insists I stay right there. If I roll to the right…so dizzy… It hurt so much to move. I close my eyes for a moment. I can't move!

"Danza? Leo...oh god, Splinter?" I gasp, "Help!?" That's a waste of breath. It'll be a miracle if Danza returned, or anyone else would be there. Distraught, I spit some blood out of my mouth. An overpowering dread creeps into my soul, I don't want it. Someone takes hold of me…

"Mike, Mikey, you're okay. Wake up," a comforting voice beckoned. Mike still heard wind blowing, but it sounded different now. The branches of a tree rhythmically hit against the side of the house. He felt his brother's hands holding him.

Mike opened his eyes and things started to focus in the dark room. The hardness of the wood floor became obvious again. He sat up and faced Don. Mike also recognized Raph kneeling beside him. "I, I'm okay, okay. Justa bad dream," he reassured his brothers. _Oh, how humiliating_, Mike took in a deep breath, _they're babying me_. But he found it bizarre how real the dream felt about being shot. _The gunshot...and Danza?_

"One helluva bad dream," Raph climbed back onto couch and buried himself under a quilt.

Don wasn't sure about Mike. He heard genuine fear when Mike was yelling in his sleep. "Y'sure you're okay?" Don touched Mike's shoulder. "You sounded really scared…."

"I dunno," Mike put his hand on Don's. "Don't wanna talk 'bout it now."

Don squeezed his brother's arm.

__

Thanks anyway, Mike looked full into Don's eyes.

After Don got back into bed, Mike checked the clock before straightening out his blankets on the floor. _Only an hour and a half before Steve gets up to feed the horses and… when we go._ Mike could not go back to sleep, however. A dream so vivid like that had to mean something. Things now started to make some connections and he blew them aside. But the foremost theme said he, or they, were being sought after. _Was that a message from Splinter, or what?_ Mike kept on wondering if he should go down stairs and tell Leo about it.

Mike woke up with a start. Something, he heard something, like a gunshot…maybe it was a flashback from his dream. The room was getting lighter. Mike smiled…it seemed like forever waiting for morning to come. _The time for us to get out of here. To get back and repair the pain I've caused Splinter._ Mike got up hoping the first rays of the sunrise would cheer up his spirits. This morning had a dark rosy glow, which seemed unique after the other wet and gray ones. He felt sorry they were going to leave such a revered place now.

The glowing light on the horizon beckoned Mike to the window. Mike noticed the door of the main barn was open and a dim light shone from it. Amongst the trees, he saw a breathtaking glimpse of a horse. The spirited animal ran out into the open, catching the morning's rays in his flying mane and tail. Such speed and power…the red horse danced in the golden pasture as streams of vapor shot from his nostrils.

Mike blinked to clear his head. _Why are they at the barn so early? _He heard Raph roll under the quilt on the couch. Just to not wake his brothers, Mike took his jeans and a sweatshirt to dress out in the hallway.

A thawing scent in the chilly morning air struck Mike's nose as he left the house. The unnaturally warm air and the glowing sunrise made this December morning feel strangely like spring. The sound of hoof beats stopped him in his tracks. They didn't come from the pasture he saw Danza in, but from behind him. A horse had to be loose._ Danza? But how could he get loose?_ Mike turned around in his spot, looking for the fugitive. Nothing strange was seen.

He jogged toward the barn. Why she didn't call them to get help to catch the horse? It probably was because she didn't want to stop them from leaving. The stall barn door was open, wide enough for horses to pass through. Mike went in and headed for the office. He abruptly stopped when he saw someone down the isle.

"Mick!"

The trainer sat on the ground, leaning against a stall wall. He had a horse blanket on him now. Mike's imagination went wild, evoking the scene of a horse he had out kicking him, then running from the barn.

Steve stepped out from the office. "Mike! I'm glad you're still here! We've just got hit by some burglars, and they shot Mick in the leg."

"Are you okay?" Mike asked.

She nodded. "I got the ambulance coming for Mick. Two men…two Orientals on horses, came in like a stick-up...they took Sundanza and Delilah." Just the way she said this haunted Mike, like it was his fault.

"I'm sorry..." It couldn't really be his fault; no one could really know that this would happen. They had given up and planned to go back.

Mick looked toward them, "Those two assholes threatened my _life_! One shoved his gun at me while the other tried to trample me with his horse. That guy had the beast jumping on me…he said I better not call the police either. The other ass shot me when they left."

It seemed they did not know about the loose horse. "I, I think...one of the horses got free." Mike told Steve.

"Maybe so..." she sighed.

"This might come in handy," Mick pulled his arm from under the blanket. "One of the asses who burst in here was thoughtful enough to leave a sympathy note, tacked to the wall with a dagger." Mick's gaze settled on the dagger in the wall.

Mike kneeled down to him to take the piece of paper, then looked in the direction Mick indicated. A Japanese tanto dagger jutted from the wood from where the note was torn.

"Sounds like the same horse thieves that led you here."

Another wave of guilt hit Mike, as well as a chilling fear. More than ever did he feel responsible, like their ninja clan stories lead to this. _But how…was it because of us, or was it purely coincidence?_ Mike pulled the dagger from the wall, then looked down at the paper in his hand. Mike's heart skipped a beat. 

__

It can't be…

"I must call the house and tell my husband." Steve turned to walk toward the office. "I don't know what to do though. They might make hell break loose or something if I do make a big fuss out of this by callin' the police."

"Call the police, _dammit_." Mick gasped with pain. "Who _cares_ what these goons in green do."

Mike was in such a rush when he left the barn, he blindly ran over Raph at the doorway. He ignored his brother, even when he followed after asking questions. Mike had to tell Leo, so they could think things out. The piece of paper was still crumbled in his hand, sticking to his sweaty palm. What his dream could mean bothered him even more now. _Man, and we were supposed to be busting outta here this morning._

"Leo! Le--" Mike slammed the back door and ran into the living room. He expected to find Leo stretched out on the couch, where he had slept all night. But he wasn't on the couch now.

Mike turned to run up the stairs. "Leo! Don! We've got trouble!"

Gary passed by him in the stairway. He was talking to Steve on his cellular phone as he left the house.

Mike went into their room, gasping for air. He noticed Don was up and getting dressed.

"What? What happened?" Don reached back to pull the strap of his overalls over his shoulder.

"Uhh, where's Leo?" Mike looked around nervously.

Don paused a moment. "In the bathroom…he's throwin' up." His eyes stopped on the dagger in Mike's hand.

"Aw shi-- _das nicht guut_," Mike turned around in disbelief. "Look, Donny, two…of their horses was just stolen by Japanese guys. Mick's shot in the leg, an'…now Leo's--"

"Whoa, whoa," Don stopped him. The faint sound of a siren reached their ears. "Slow down," he glanced out the window to see an ambulance come up the drive.

Mike continued to ramble. He also looked out the window to watch. "Wha--what are we gonna do? Mick wants to call the cops, but the baddies don't want 'em to!"

Leo walked into the room and lay back on the bed. "Were still gonna leave…"

"No, Leo," Mike kneeled down by the bed. "We've got some trouble…one of the horses was just stolen an' Mick got shot in the leg. We gotta do somet--"

"Mike, no, stop…" Leo mumbled, folding his arms across his plastron.

"We'll just leave and let them handle it." Don offered his advice.

"No, I'm serious, Leo." Mike stood up and pointed to the window. "There's an ambulance out there…and this dagger."

"Where's Raph?" Don turned away from the window.

"Uhhh, he's…down in the barn."

"I do _not_ feel good. Why…all this, now?" Leo stayed on the bed.

"Yeah, I know," Mike sat on the bed beside Leo. He briefly laid the back of his hand on Leo's forehead. "But you'll be alright by this evening."

"If I don't puke my guts out…" Leo sat up.

"Mikey, let's go down after the ambulance leaves. They're getting Mick inside now," Don pulled his sweatshirt on.

Mike held out the note he got from Mick. "Um, guys…?" They looked to him. "I gotta tell you something, 'bout my dream…it's too connected to this."

__

We will wait for you in the mountains. If you value the lives of your new friends, come alone.

Long after the others read and reread it, Leo's gaze was still fixed on the piece of paper. Fixed on the Japanese characters, which signed the end of the note. _Who…who? It can't be Shredder or the Foot. It can't… _Leo rose from the hid-a-way couch. Mike's dream only heightened the intensity of the situation. It had to have been a message from Splinter. Leo's face contorted with anger-- _and damn this flu_… Something else had been lying dormant within him for a long time. Something dark.

Raph kept his eyes on Leo as he paced back and forth. "Well?"

"So it has finally come to this," was all Leo said.

Raph wanted a more clear-cut answer. "We're staying an' going on with it?"

"Now waittaminute here," Mike interjected, "If they want a fight, why not just come out and ask for one?"

"You bet your ass I'd give 'em one in a heartbeat!" Raph gripped his pair of sai.

"The Foot has always operated in mysterious ways, sure," Don sighed. "But kidnapping horses? Honestly, what would they be thinkin' to draw us out on that?"

"It's _not_ the Foot!" Leo made eye contact with all of them. "I'm not so sure if it's a fight they want either."

"O-okay, I'm confused," Raph turned toward the window and looked out to the barn.

"But that's right," Mike got up from the other couch. "Splinter told us it wasn't the Foot, that it was a buncha pukes with guns. Mick got shot at, y'know. Since when did the Foot use guns?"

"If it's revenge they want, whoever it is, why us? I can't help but wonder…" Don trailed off, speaking directly to Leo.

"I know." Leo nodded understandingly. _Could Oroku Saki, or someone connected to him, have returned once more? Or are they not affiliated with the Foot at all? _The image of Shredder, hideously mutated and decapitated, spastically twitching in the water surfaced in Leo's mind. _He's wasted, gone…dammit._

Isn't he?

"But we're gonna find out," Raph picked up his bag as to leave the guestroom.

"Okay, when night falls, we're busting outta here for sure." Mike turned to Leo. "You better be okay then."

Another wave of nausea hit Leo. He sat down on the couch and fought it off. "We'll need to get some supplies together, as well as…"

Steve also called Ryan to tell him to come ASAP. She needed him to watch the place while she went to the hospital with Mick. She told him the four are still there, and would help him out. However, Ryan found himself alone when he sought to find the loose Danza. But he and Danza had a strong bond between them. Through his own mysterious ways, Ryan caught the frazzled stallion within an hour

Ryan led the stallion into the main barn, and stopped in his tracks. Danza also froze when he fixed his gaze on the arena. Well, now he also found the four guys. Not like he expected them to be, though. They actually were turtles with martial arts skills.

Every one of them was without their clothes, letting their true colors show. The four seemed 'dressed' for the occasion too. They wore leather belts, leather pads on their joints, and red bandanas that were eye-masks.

One with a pair of swords and another with sai were standing opposite each other, engaged in fierce hand-to-hand combat. He recognized Raph's voice after he complained about Leo's condition. Leo must have thrown up on him from the sound of it.

The other two were also sparring with weapons, a bo versus a pair of nunchuks. As Ryan watched, Mike twirled one of his nunchuks around Don's staff and stopped it just short of his face. Then he planted a good kick to Don's midsection.

Ryan's trained eye recognized the situation. They were sparring for training purposes. Whoever burglarized the farm, they must be unrelenting to require them at this level.

Leo held up a hand to stop Raph when he noticed Ryan. He could see the fascination in Ryan's dark eyes. Leo resheathed his katanas.

"Makin' sure you still know how to fight?" Ryan thought he try to be funny to break into such an awkward situation. He put Danza in the grooming stall to approach to four.

"We're preparing for tonight," Leo explained with a weary tone in his voice. "We've got a hunch who stole your mare, like someone connected to a ninja clan."

"Why _our_ horses?" Ryan's dark eyes narrowed to slits.

"We don't know yet. But they seem to want us. If it's our old enemy, he wants vengeance…he's not going to rest until either he kills us, or we kill him." _Again._

"Sounds like a respectable guy."

Leo's face bore no humor. "This can't be taken lightly. All of you are in grave danger as long as they know we're here. We've got to do what they ask…face them in mountains. Alone. Just _us_ and _them_. No cops either." He turned away to cough.

Ryan looked at all of them for a moment, contemplating Leo's words. They didn't sit well in his mind though. They took the farm's horses, his horses…the very animals he took responsibility of here…and the fact he was just an assistant wasn't holding him back. Ryan stepped up to Leo. "Just the act of coming here and taking our horses, they've matter the matter personal. Now it's my fight too. I'm connected to theses horses-they _are_ my sole duty. If you don't want me with you, I'll just go alone." He held his gaze with Leo for a few seconds.

"Okay," Leo finally nodded. "I guess we could use your expertise regarding this area and the horses."

Ryan nodded and left the arena. He still felt he had to prove himself to these freaks of nature. He was only half Japanese, but he understood the warrior code of a ninja all the same.

The four returned to sparring, this time with a little more spirit. After Ryan checked Danza over and put him away, he headed to the office. He came out a moment later with a black, samurai sword in his hands. He leaned against the arena wall to watch Leo and Raph. "You got good style," Ryan told Leo.

Leo paused to watch the slim figure in a shirt and blue jeans walk into the arena with this long sword.

"Mind of I warm up wit ya?" Ryan smiled, rolling up his long sleeves. "Perhaps one on one?"

"Whoa," Mike whispered. He watched Ryan put his dark, shoulder length hair up into a ponytail with a renewed sense of fascination.

Leo decided to accept. "Or two on one?" The kid didn't seem to be the same barn manager type he remembered from yesterday. Ryan's slanted eyes also played with his. Leo shook off the notion he was facing up with Keno.

"Why not?" Ryan pulled his sword. The frosted blade reflected the florescent lighting. "I might be a little rusty though."

"And I a little sick…" Leo shrugged.

They faced off to begin the spar. The other three had to stop to watch them. After a series of well executed sweeps and blocks, Leo clipped Ryan's shoulder. Leo stopped, wishing he hadn't done that.

"Not the first time I've been cut," Ryan shrugged it off, only to promptly slice the turtle's two leather sheath straps.

Feeling cheated by that unfair move, Leo picked up the heat. Ryan blocked his move, Leo advanced with another, crossing his blades on Ryan's single edge.

Ryan gritted his teeth, as he stepped up into a front leaning stance to hold his ground. The muscles on his lean arms began to quiver slightly. His pheripheral vision centered on Leo's liquid brown eyes. Leo left himself wide open for Ryan to front-kick his chest. But Ryan gave him another second to make a move…_why isn't he covering himself?_ The force between him and Leo gradually worked a notch into the edges of Ryan's and one of Leo's blades.

Ryan stopped resisting when a nauseous look edged across Leo's face. "I better not push you," he lowered his sword. _Maybe that's why he can't focus…_

"Thanks, not bad yourself," Leo promptly handed his katanas over to Raph and ran from the arena.

Mike shook his head. "I don't know why he's torturing himself like that."

"His will _is_ strong," Ryan studied the notch--the only notch--marring his sword's sharp edge. _This is my Dad's sword, too._

"You okay, your shoulder?" Mike asked him. "We, uh, try not to draw blood when just training…"

Blood had soaked through the upper part of Ryan's long sleeve shirt. Ryan looked through the slit in the fabric to see how deep it was. "Ehh, I'll be okay…just nicked me."

The four sat with Ryan in the barn's office as they discussed the situation in length to Steve. Ryan put up the suggestion for them to borrow horses for their trek to the mountains. They'll get there a lot faster than on foot. The horses are the best all-terrain vehicles for this area, provided they are able.

Steve finally admitted it was a worthy idea. She still had many reasons to not go with it right away. It's not just a trail-ride…and horseback riding now was very risky. Winter would should be here, along with unforgiving weather. The ground was already hard, and vegetation for the horses was scarce. They had to look at _all_ the options. How much food and gear can they bring for both them and the horses, and not burden the horses with the load? More importantly, the horses could not, _must not_, get hurt. They are going out to the middle of nowhere. True, the Adirondacks are part of a park system, but if something goes wrong, they would be without a vet.

__

This sounds like one of Splinter's expedition runs when we were at the farm…Mike sighed.

"Do you even know _how_ to ride?" Steve outwardly asked the four.

"We could take a _crash_ course if we have to." Mike shrugged. "No…"

Ryan looked at them with a sly smile. His determination to convince Steve to lend them horses was not wavering. "If you're ninja, you can ride. They both deal with balance and pressure points."

"Not quite," Leo sighed, "I'm not going to kill the horse."

"Heh, it might kill me," Don added.

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	9. HI NO DE - 9

HI NO DE - Chapter 9 ****

Kyuu...

The four Turtles and Ryan rode as horsemen into the night, loping their horses into the fog that had swept in after sundown. They formed a spaced out side-by-side line, a wall that stormed toward the climbing form of a mountain.

Mike just had to seize the moment while it presented itself. "Bah ba da, bah ba da, bah ba--heh!" He started to hum the tune from Bonanza. On cue, Don tapped Mike's shell with his bo.

"Not funny." Don grinned while he gathered his reins up again. He was left to ride the gray pony, Tally Ho. Compared to the bigger horses the others rode, Don felt a little cut down to size. Could he help it if he wasn't too excited about riding? Then Mike told him to pretend Tally's a computer, since he's small and white.

Before they left, Ryan and Steve made certain the Turtles could handle their horses. It was a rocky start, the four looking like a bunch of fish out of water. After some thought, Ryan mentioned more comparisons connecting their martial arts training to the horseback riding. Concepts relating to balance, steering the horses, and riding posture. An hour went by, Steve was impressed to how quickly the guys caught on, especially Raphael and Leonardo.

Mike got to take Total Eclypse, only because she was not considered one of the farm's better racehorses. And that he constantly nagged Steve and Ryan about her.

Raphael rode Trinity, an almost black brood mare that wasn't carrying a foal this season. Ryan told Raphael the mare had a personality of a cow, but he figured Raphael could handle her headstrong nature. Ryan told the turtles he gave them horses that sort of matched their personalities. After that, Raphael tried to run Ryan over with Trinity a couple times during their riding lesson.

Leo rode a retired racehorse, Jontondo. He was a tall, dapple gray gelding now used for Dressage and huntseat. Jon had steadfast nerves and a gentle nature, a suitable match for Leo.

Ryan chose to take Danza. This choice surprised the turtles, being that the enemy tried to steal this stallion. Ryan told him Danza was better off in his care than left where they could take him again. Danza was more his horse, since he spent more time working with the stallion than Mick did. Ryan reassured them he'd make sure Danza was going to be a "gentleman" around the mares they chose.

After forty minutes of hard riding along a tree line next to a country road, Raphael began to complain. Ryan and Leo had forged ahead, while Don slipped behind.

"Dammit, this nag is pissin' me off. If she smacks one more branch in my face--"

"What choice do we have? If you'd rather we spend all week trying to walk up there, you're welcome too." Mike shrugged.

"Coulda just talked Steve into using the Jeep, y' know." Don spoke behind them.

"Those guys really weren't very specific. 'We'll wait for you in the mountains.' What the hell! The Adirondacks go on forevah! We just supposed t' blunder along until we find ourselves in some trap they've set up?!" Raphael jerked on Trinity's reins to slow her back to a walk.

"What's it look like we're doing?"

"We should've went home. If it's not the Foot, why bothaa?"

"It sounded big this morning," Mike looked at Raphael. _Man, you really look like the guy in The Man from Snowy River, with your hat and trench coat._

"What?"

"Nothin'." Mike continued to smile a few more seconds before he straightened up. "Y'know…Ryan, he's giving me the creeps."

"His mind-reading shit?"

"Yep," Mike grinned, "it's like I'm afraid to think around him,"

"You actually think?" Raphael chuckled and looked ahead to the other two. Ryan called them the four, cataclysmic horsemen from the Bible, because of the color of their horses. He was teasing again…but it seemed fitting, considering what they are trained to do as ninja. Ryan did seem to know way too much, however, too much for Raphael's comfort.

"I'm startin' to wonder if he's the one connected to the pukes taking--"

"Don't you start with that again," Mike groaned.

Ryan abruptly stopped and turned around to face them. "Where's Don?" he asked the two.

Raphael turned around in his saddle. Mike pulled Eclypse around to look from where they came. Only empty fog and silent trees filled the space.

"_Donny_! Damn,"

They heard the faint whinny from Tally in the distance.

"God, if anything happened to him," Raphael looked at Mike and Leo. "Did he say anything earlier?"

Mike shook his head. "I dunno."

"I think he's okay." Ryan rode ahead of them. He seemed to be trying to hide his concern. "Tally just sounds lost." _Damn, I was afraid of this, riding out here with beginners._

After half an hour of frantically weaving the forest searching for Don, screaming out his name and broadcasting their presence to anyone that may be waiting for them, they find him off of Tally in okay condition.

"Donny, what happened?" Leo looked down at him from Jontondo. "We thought for sure you were done in for."

"He fell off, I betcha." Mike grinned at Leo.

"Look, I tried to tell you I had to take a pee break. I'm sorry." Don pulled on Tally's reins as he lead him toward the others. "Then he totally freaks out after I loose sight of you, and takes off running in the wrong direction."

"Uh-huh, and you fell off somewhere there too." Mike smartly nodded.

Ryan nodded toward Leo. "You better stay up front with Leo so Tally won't get lonely."

"Do that," Raphael grumbled. "You get lost again Donny, and I'll take your bo and bust it upside your head!"

"I'm sorry already." Don climbed back on Tally. Leo waited until the pony edged to the front.

"Wait," with one word, Leo pulled Jontondo around to listen. He looked into the darkness between Jon's perked ears. The others continued along the edge of the forest.

Don stopped and waited for him. "What's wrong?"

"I heard something…"

"Wanna let us in on it?" Ryan whispered when he and Mike joined Leo.

They heard it again. Ryan gave Leo a questioning look.

__

Yeah, that… Leo nodded.

Then Ryan and Leo saw something dark creep along in the shadows. The three froze when it rose up. Jontondo stretched his neck higher and exhaled a loud snort. 

Eclypse closely watched the shadow, the whites in her eyes now visible in the dark. She nervously danced in place as Mike tried to hold her still._ Whoa, whoa...e-e-a-asy. I don't wanna get dumped now._ Her fearful snorts also infected the other horses.

Only Danza retained his sense of dignity as Ryan silently reassured him.

Trinity decided she had enough and bolted from the scene.

Leo's eyes darted in Raphael's direction, wondering why he was taking off. The mare's head flung up in the air trying to avoid Raphael's resistance. _No, Trinity had spooked from something…and so is Donny's pony._ Leo's stomach flipped when their fear of this unknown fate seized him. _These horses are not helping us, damn…_ He hastily put his reins in one hand to pull his katana from the front of the saddle. _Who...what is it? It didn't seem right…_

"Leo," Ryan whispered, "it's black bear."

"A bear?" Leo held back on the reins to hold Jontondo still. It was a relief for him to hear that. He slid the sword back into its sheath.

"He looks like he won't hurt us," Ryan made eye contact with the others. "Let's go before we make him mad."

"I'm with that," Mike let Eclypse move out into a bouncy trot. Don hadn't gone too far, and joined up with Mike to find out what happened.

They met up with Raphael on top if the hill. All the while cussing under his breath, Raphael managed to stop the mare by cranking her head all the way around to his right knee. That was the "emergency brake" Ryan showed them before they left the farm.

"You alright?" Mike asked as they passed by Raphael.

Don didn't want to stop until they were a good distance from the bears. For the sake of being able to control Tally better, that is.

Raphael continued to mumble incoherently as he released his hold from Trinity's mouth.

"Bears," Leo announced as he joined Don.

"Geez..."

"We should find the foot trail that'll take us toward the Adirondacks Park border." Ryan gave assurance to whoever was listening. It was risky riding horses at night. Horses have no problem seeing in the dark. It's the shadows and nocturnal life that pose dangerous situations for them. Ryan still had doubts about the turtles riding abilities…they were merely beginners. An accident was just waiting to happen sooner or later.

Ryan heard Leo tell him they want to cover a lot more ground before sunrise. They'll set up camp then and lay low for the most part of the day. There's the possibility of a hiker or two crossing paths with them if they rode during the day. He noted the turtles preferred to wear just coats, jeans, and boots. They have to watch out for everyone, not just the enemy.

One side of the gutted trout grew darker as the persistent flames touched the scales. The heat from the fire already singed the trout's fins and tail to darkened structures. The way Mike cooked this fish, the stick stuck through its mouth to protrude from the split belly, seemed barbaric. Ryan told them this was how the Japanese cooked fish over an open fire. Mike held his gaze on the fish as he lowered it into the dancing flames. The flames wrapped around the body, it's fingers stroking the sides.

__

It cooks better over the coals, Ryan interjected his advice into Mike's head.

__

I know what I'm do--Mike realized what happened. He looked over the fire and glared at Ryan.

Ryan smiled. The dark shadows conflicting with the fire's glow made him look all the more menacing.

"Will ya cut that out. It's spookin' me!" Mike voiced his opinion.

Ryan chuckled as if pleased with himself. "I finally figured out how to get through to you." He took a sip of his hot chocolate.

Mike snorted.

"Yeah, he is kinda dense…" Raph agreed.

"I mean, I can only 'read' animals, not humans. I guess humans are too evolved or something. You said you're an evolved kind of turtle, so I had trouble connecting. Don't worry, I'm not that telepathic." Ryan swept a hand through his shiny hair to bring it back from his face.

"So y' don't know what ugly thoughts I'm thinkin' now." Raphael checked him.

"Yep. But I do know your groin muscles are killing ya." Ryan turned to his left to Raph. "I could find out more if I watched you lo--"

"Puh-lease don't," Raphael lay back on the ground and pulled up his sleeping bag. He was supposed to be sleeping, since he and Don had the next watch during the day.

Leo set aside his half-eaten pan of bran mash. _Bran mash…I can't believe I'm eating horse food._ He didn't feel like eating anything else. Mike and Ryan convinced him he had to eat something. Ryan said the mash was just like Cream of Wheat…_but this was beside the point._

"Splinter stressed a lot on the aspects mental training for us too. I can understand, in a way, what you experience. Splinter, he had mastered a level of thought projection through the Astral Plane. Through meditation, his thoughts…his spirit, can touch us even though we are far apart. We've only been able to brush this level a couple of times."

Ryan listened, taking interest in this new topic. "You also want to master it, huh?" He looked to his right, where Leo sat cross-legged.

Leo nodded, his eyes fixed on the fire.

"Ever hear of horse whisperers?" Ryan asked, setting his empty mug next to the fire ring.

Leo nodded no, still studying the fire.

"Well…there's lots of lore on horse whisperers, people who have a special understanding of horses. They chose a way of least resistance, of using the horses own language to tame it. But me, I know how to do that, and more. It's like I have the same brain waves of a horse." He heard Mike snicker from that explanation, so he sought another. "It's like the spiritual connection the four of you have with your Master."

Leo looked toward Ryan. "Is Steve the same way?" What she told him a day before came back to him.

"No. Actually, I taught her how to read horses."

Leo and Mike found that interesting. That some humans want to go to that level of kind understanding with animals.

For next few minutes they remained silent. Mike remembered to pull his blackened fish from the fire. He flaked the charred skin off to expose the white flesh below. "Sure you don't want anything else?" He offered some of his fish to Leo.

Leo silently refused. He picked up his leather belt and continued stitching together two cut harness straps.

"Can I see that note you were talking about." Ryan openly asked them. He saw Eclypse approach their fire ring, but he kept his face blank._ Mike still didn't tie you right, go and give him a scare. Maybe this time…_

"Hmm, yeah," Mike looked over his right shoulder to Don. He had been asleep for awhile. "Except he's using the saddle bag it's in as a pillow."

"Do-on-ny!" Raphael called out, still stretched out on the cold ground. His voice sounded like it erupted from the darkness.

Then Mike felt hot breath on the back of his neck. He spun around in alarm…_oh, Eclypse?!_ She stepped over Don, her hind hoof hitting the back of his shell. Eclypse continued to sniff along the ground until she came upon Leo's pan of bran mash.

"_Holee_--" Don quickly stood up on his knees after she passed over.

Raphael rose up on his elbows to see what was happening. It wasn't long before all of them started to shake with laughter. Eclypse jerked her head up, puzzled from the sudden outburst.

"Talk about your timing." Mike got up to grab her dragging lead rope. He gave Ryan a look, _you knew too, didn't you._

Don looked around, trying to figure out how it was she walked over him. "Did you set that up?" he glared at Mike.

"No, but we were going to get you up an' off the bag." Mike led the red horse back to the picket line. He looked at the mare with a frank expression. "I love you too, Clypsie, but ya can't be giving Donny anymore 'night mares'."

Don offered Ryan the note before unrolling his blankets. It was getting colder too. "Don't wake me up 'til my watch," he said from under the blanket.

"I ditto that," Raphael agreed.

Ryan remained silent as he studied the note. The two _kanji_ at the end also held his attention for some time.

"It's the signature at the end, isn't it?" Leo questioned Ryan.

"_Tatsumaki_…" Ryan finally looked up from the note and stared into the fire.

Leo lay his belt aside to follow what Ryan was saying.

"This, I think it says _tatsumaki_," Ryan pointed to the _kanji_ then looked at Leo. "I know the first _kanji_. It can also mean _ryuu_…dragon. That's part of my Japanese name, _Ryutaro_. But here, it means different. The second, _maki_, is for wind. Put together, _tatsumaki_ means tornado. Has to be a nickname or something." Ryan explained to him.

"Yeah, I see." Leo nodded. "Splinter started teaching me Japanese, but not a lot of it sticks. _Tatsumaki_?" The renewed meaning still didn't mean anything to him yet. But there was something about it that sounded familiar. _Tatsumaki_. _Tatsu_…_maki_…who is it? Tornado? "What else does _tatsu_ mean?" Leo asked. A chord of familiarity hit him as he spoke the word by itself.

"Uhh, I don't know that much. It all doesn't stick in my head either." Ryan shrugged, then looked at Leo. The question was lingering in his head since yesterday. "Are you sure this was intended for you? I mean, it sounds like it could be for me…too,"

Mike found a break to get into the conversation. "You have enemies…Ryutaro?"_ Neat nick, Rye…_

He grinned at Mike, then sighed. "No, but we do have the occasional threat from competition." Ryan spoke to both of them. It actually was more of a lie, a cover-up for himself.

"Humph, really?"

"Yeah,"

"Weird…I guess we're going wait and see," Mike yawned.

"Japanese racehorse competitors?" Leo couldn't believe the new possibility.

"Yep, horse racing is getting really popular in Japan." Ryan straightened up and stretched his back. "They've got a great deal of money going into syndicates for well-known studs here in America. There's a renewed need for our good blood lines for their Thoroughbreds too."

"Why do you think they're taking these horses?" Leo finally asked the question that has been bothering them from day one.

"Bloodlines," Ryan promptly answered. "If you look at all the ones you've mentioned… By Sacrifice, Sunday Serenity, Thorn Dance…they've all got good bloodlines. And Sundanza, he's got direct bloodlines to Northern Dancer, who was a damn good racehorse in his day. Delilah was carrying a foal by Danza. She herself has some good lines too."

Still not fully asleep, Don became more awake when he picked up on what they were talking about. His smile of gratification remained hidden under the blanket._ Bloodlines…the same conclusion I drew up._

"Could fame and fortune be involved too?" Mike asked.

Ryan nodded, "If there's good bloodlines, or even good fortune, money and success are sure to follow."

Bloodlines, _tatsumaki_, and the Adirondacks. What a strange number of outcomes they'd encounter, Leo sighed. He picked up a long stick to poke the dying embers. They're better off without the fire for the rest of the time. Through the trees, he could see the lightening of the eastern horizon, the calling of the rising dawn.

The sound of a saddle and other horse equipment dropped by Leo's head woke him from a restless sleep. He rose up on his hands and knees with a start. The coldness seeping up from the ground had made his body so stiff. Leo wasn't moving very fast after that. _Man, these days only remind me more that I am a turtle…_

"The horses got loose…_again_, Mike. We gotta find them," Raphael's raspy voice boomed.

Leo sat up and squinted in the bright light. He looked over to Mike, who was slowly getting out of his blankets.

"But," Mike looked at Raph in disbelief, "I made sure I tied her tight. I swear by it!"

"Everyone but Danza and Tally were gone…" Raphael walked away from the two. "Ryan and Don took them to look for the others."

"Goofy horse…she's even worse than me at pulling pranks." Mike continued to mumble in denial.

Leo rolled up his sleeping bag and pulled on his shoes. He glanced up at the sun…_must be in the afternoon now._ "Let's break camp as soon as we find them." He stood up and scanned the trees. "You two go look on foot. I'll pack up everything here."

Raphael looked at him with some concern.

"I'll be okay…just go on."

Ryan and Don rode through the barren winter trees. Ryan suggested the best place to look is the river. Where the water was, the horses should be too. They're too far away from home to attempt to go back.

Don looked once at the rider decked in leather chaps and a black down coat. He pulled his stocking cap down more to keep the cold from his cheeks before focusing his attention back on the bare trees. Ever since the lesson yesterday, Don started wondering something more about Ryan. Ryan had trouble telling them instructions, for starters. He had great teaching ability, it was just that he avoided using a lot of terminology or giving lots of directions. Steve was there to help him teach, not to just assist them with riding. Don couldn't help but notice the number of times Ryan confused right for left, or north for south. _I haven't seen him read or write yet…has to be some kind of dyslexic…_Don finally came up with a name for it.

Ryan brought Danza to a halt, to study the forest for signs of the three horses. Danza perked his ears and released a high pitched scream. He could sense the worry about the missing horses all the same. No one replied to his call.

Don felt their disappointment as he hadn't seen or heard anything either.

"No, wait," Ryan finally spoke. He saw a glimpse of something far in the distance.

"Jontondo…" Don whispered, when he too saw the dark, gray shape.

Ryan silently asked Danza to pick up a brisk trot. Then a wild turkey came from his hiding place and took flight between Danza and Tally.

The little pony snorted, rearing up halfway from the large, strange bird startling him. Danza was a good distance away now. Don's senses also were shaken awake from Tally's sudden reaction. Before he could have the upper hand on the situation, Tally broke into a bucking run after the red stallion.

Ryan looked over his shoulder when he heard hooves crashing through the brittle leafs of the forest floor. He stopped, yelling to Don, "Sit deep, heels down! _Pull him around me!_" Ryan kept his eyes focused on the pair, analyzing the situation.

Hanging on the reins, Don hunched forward against Tally's neck. His teeth were clenched as he fought against the pony's frenzied gallop through the trees. It was all he could do to stay on.

__

Just relax…don't doubt yourself. Let go of your death grip, and give and take on the reins…on his mouth. Tell him to stop, don't fight him. Give and take, Donny, give and take… an sit back, use yourbody weight too... trust me…

Ryan's mental talk helped the turtle bring Tally to a rough trot. That seemed just as bad to Don.

"_Sit deep, keep heels down_…relax and balance yourself, Donny," Ryan spoke to him. _What are you afraid of? Him, a little pony?_

Don finally slowed down to a walk, then a halt. He turned Tally around to see Ryan ride over to them.

"Are you okay?"

Still not ready to give Tally's mouth back, Don held in the reins. "Why does he _do_ that?"

"You're still afraid…?" Ryan half stated, half-asked Don. It seemed he found one of Don's weak spots. This also amused to him some degree as well. _A trained ninja who was afraid of a spooky horse._

"It's not really fear. I just can't trust him…so unreliable. He freakin' spooks at _everything_!" Don refuted. He kept his eyes on Tally's head, as to avoid Ryan's glare.

"Fear results from lack of trust." Ryan looked down to him. He noticed Don still was not going to ease off Tally's reins.

Don opened his mouth as to justify himself, but couldn't find anything worthy to say. The pony still continued to brace against the bit. His frustration showed through a nervous pawing at the ground.

"Gotta conquer you fears, or they'll get you. I know…from my experience." Ryan moved in a little closer to the clothed turtle and pony. He decided to make a little lesson of this, Jontondo and Eclypse weren't going anywhere yet. "Let go of the reins, Don…let them go."

Don only looked at Ryan like he was from another planet. "He'll run off ag--"

"Tally's fear is only worsened by yours…sheesh, Donny, a five year old rides him!" Ryan sighed. "Give him your trust that everything's okay. Have faith in Tally, trust him…_ease off the reins._"

Don realized the gist Ryan was getting to. It was not just the mere act of giving Tally back his head…it was facing his own fear about Tally. But there was more to that too. He also had distrust about the unpredictable and hurtful ways of people and his brothers. That was why he preferred computers and machines more…they can't hurt him like people could. Don had control with the machines, since he could understand them. _But, maybe this time…_

Don slowly let the reins slip through his fingers. Tally gratefully accepted the rein and stretched his head down low. He also chewed on the bit in a playful, relieved manner. Don still held on the reins at the buckle, but he looked up to Ryan with a perplexed expression.

"Pat him on the neck…let him know everything's okay." Ryan nodded toward Tally. "Learning to work with him is no different than sparring with your brothers. It's a co-op between you and the horse, a dance. Tally is also a living being, with thoughts and feelings. Treat him as you would like to be treated." 

Ryan urged Danza into a walk, then gathered up the reins. "Let's get those horses, Don--"

"Ryan," Don moved Tally up next to Danza. "Thanks, I…I just--"

Ryan stopped him. "That's okay, your Master Splinter will thank me later. You're learning, Grasshopper." A wry smile now played across Ryan's face.

Don glared at him, then let out a chuckle. "_Hai, Ryutaro-sensei._"

Ryan looked over to Don and achieved a mock seriousness. "And yes, I am dyslexic too." His smile broke out afterwards.

Don only stared at him, only to be swept over with more doubt. They were even now. They both knew each other's weaknesses.

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	10. HI NO DE - 10

HI NO DE - Chapter 10

Juu...

The icy rain came down in sheets through the trees. A layer of clear ice coated everything the drops touched. The pines trees scattered in amongst the naked trunks glistened in a magical way.

Heads bend against the sleet, Leonardo and Raphael led the line along the steep incline they rode. The freezing rain combined with the loose soil and leaves made passage tricky for their horses. The incline also dropped off toward the left. Further down the ravine was a young river flowing to a larger tributary somewhere. The river's muffled roar echoed up to them through the sound of rain hitting the leaves. Scattered, rocky embankments rose up to the right of them. Amidst the boulders and exposed pieces of stone, the briars alongside younger trees further challenged the travel. Simply put, going in a straight line proved impossible. And the darkness of night also fell on them.

Leo wondered if he should have taken a lower path along the river instead. The travel looked easier down there now. Something about the river haunted him - a feeling that told him they're safer away from it.

All this, and for what?

They rode in search of something, anything that told them a purpose behind this pointless struggle. In three hours, they covered just a couple miles alongside the small mountain. But they weren't exactly traveling in silence.

__

The weather outside is frightful, but I know you'll ...

Mike began to hum another Christmas carol as he kept his eyes on the wicked but beautiful terrain. The carols helped keep his wits together, as Eclypse had problems with her footing on the loose ground. That only added to his growing insecurity. He considered getting off and walking her the rest of the way. Leo also looked like he wanted to do the same with Jontondo. His horse also slid down more than moving forward. But then, they might hold the others up.

Raph's mare, on the other hand, handled all of this like an old pro. And the same went for Danza and Tally. Why did he get the clumsy horse? Mike sighed and redirected his thoughts again.

__

There's even ice stuck all over Trinity's tail hairs, Raph's saddle bags, making icicles on the back of his hat...

Sheeez... I can't even feel my hands in this! How am I supposed to fight if I can't feel_ my chucks?!?_

Mike put the reins in his left hand to shake his right one. _A major case of "Ice, ice baby"... ughh, where'd that come--_

"Mikey, it's not even December yet," Don finally spoke against his choice of music.

"It's close enough." Mike yelled back, with a merry smile.

Raph let an ice-covered pine bow he held snap back. Eclypse snorted in alarm when it hit her in the muzzle.

"Hey!" Mike protested for her.

"Rollin', rollin', rollin'. Keep them doggies rollin'...man, my ass is swollen...raw _hide_. Git 'em up, move 'em out..." Raph picked up another tune. His voice grew all the more hoarse as he sung along.

Mike grinned. "But seriously, Raph, if a space ship lands and the most beautiful woman you've ever saw gets ou--"

"Oohhh no! No more City Slickers--" Don groaned.

"And all she wants to do is have the greatest sex in the universe with you, then fly away the second it's over. Will ya do it, Raph?"

"Heh..._would_ I? Ya bettah believe I would."

"Come on! Leave the stallion in the corral, huh?" Leo mocked them.

"Sheez..."

Since the last scenario, they decided it was better for Ryutaro to take up the rear. That way, he could keep an eye on them at all times. Leo also insisted on taking lead. His senses seemed to know where to go, a sense of direction Ryutaro secretly seeded into Leo's mind.

Despite all these attempts, Ryutaro sensed Leo's doubts about this path. The hill was becoming more vertical as they ventured on. He started to fret how much further they could go in the dark. Ryutaro needed to find more encouraging thoughts to keep them going.

Raph grew serious again. His throat was killing him, he was losing his voice, and his hands and feet felt numb from the freezing rain.

Nothing abnormal could be seen around them. Nobody was going to formally "meet" them out here; they were probably in the wrong location. Raph scanned the rough hillside in the fading light again. He studied the shimmering rocks to his right; it's dark cracks.

His intuition, on the other hand, still bothered him. Something was waiting for them... something that wanted them. Not wanting to be caught off guard, Raph left his sai at easy access under his hands while he rode. They hung on the dee rings on the front of the English saddle, with ice dripping from their points.

The conversation Leo and Ryutaro had from when they set up camp edged back into his mind. The one about _Tatsumaki_. It came to him in his restless sleep, along with more of the same tormenting dreams. Dreams similar to the ones Mike had. Dreams he had ever since they came to Rising Dawn Stables. Raph could tell they came from Splinter. They had to be.

__

Tatsu... the other one... He had been with Foot! The instant Raph looked up, he saw Leo and Jontondo drop down the hill in front of him.

A tall, man dressed warmly in dark green Gore-Tex pants, hiking boots and a camouflage jacket stood at the end of a aisle, scanning it for somebody. Two men stood towards the other end, looking into a horse stall. He walked toward them with a smile of satisfaction creeping across his face.

"_Situree simasu, kaicho..._ [Excuse me, leader...]" the spy respectfully addressed the taller of the two men.

The Japanese man turned and bowed to acknowledge the spy's presence. "[News you bring?]" He rubbed his hand on the back of his shaved head before crossing his arms.

"[Yes, we found them. There are five. Ryutaro brought...the others.]" The spy looked at his superior's chest as he spoke.

"[The stallion, he rides it now?]" The leader watched the spy's expression.

"_Hai_."

"Nngh...good." He bowed. As long as they get the stallion, it doesn't matter too much about _the others_.

The spy bowed deeper and promptly left.

Tatsu turned toward his colleague, his tight smile confirming the shared satisfaction. "The stallion, you will have him, Itoda-sensei."

Dr. Itoda returned Tatsu's smile, then looked into the horse stall. A Clydesdale mare stood in the far corner at ease. She was due to give birth to her foal, a very special foal. The final product of Dr. Itoda's genetic experiments.

Tatsu nodded, looking upon the mare. His thoughts were not on her anymore, as the news began to sink in.

__

Damned turtles.

When Tatsu first caught sight of one of them back at the Belmont Racetrack, he convinced himself it was just coincidence. For them to know about this was impossible. His operation was kept purely under wraps. No one knew of it, of the location, or his own whereabouts... even the Foot Clan he left back in New York City.

__

Or do those freaks even know whom they're getting involved with?

The arrangement made with Ryutaro came as a stroke of luck. No one else on the farm knew of the boy's plan either. He succeeded in convincing Ryutaro to sell the stallion for a great sum of money.

Tatsu tried to forget those freaks after they crawled back into hiding after his last defeat. He thought those mutants wanted nothing more to do with the Foot, or him, after getting their vengeance on Saki.

Had it not been for the lost in respect for Saki, he would have sought revenge on those Turtles for him. His Master didn't listen to him when he warned against using Tokka and Rahzar. Instead, Saki expected him to train those monsters. Only an idiot would ask that of him. Those brainless creatures simply created one disgrace after another. Tatsu came very close to committing suicide then to keep what honor he had left. But still, these Turtle demons resurface.

__

What does it take to be rid of these kappa?

Jontondo had come across a sheet of rock that had been covered over loosely with leaves. He quickly lost his footing on the slick surface, resulting in a fast downward slide.

"Leo!" His brothers cried out in chorus.

Leo gritted his teeth in pain as they slid down the unforgiving terrain. Jontondo's bodyweight pressed into his right leg, which grated against the rocky soil. The stirrup iron loosen itself from Leo's foot, but it only added to the misery by jutting into his shinbone. Then a ragged stump of a small, fallen tree ripped into his jeans. Leo desperately grabbed at the ground and at saplings to pull himself out from under Jontondo.

In the struggle, cold mud covered him inside and out. He finally found solid earth to brace himself and froze. Only his body heaved for as. Leo looked up the incline to fix his gaze on the others, as a plea. Jontondo's scrambling legs finally stopped their downward ascent a yard below him.

__

But for how long?

"The lead ropes..." Raph looked around, not wanting to say more. He thought about the picket-line rope they used to tie all the horses on, but Leo had that in his saddlebags.

Don understood and untied the lead rope from Tally's neck. "Let's tie 'em all together to make a longer rope...to pull Leo up." He unsnapped the rope from the halter as he looked to Ryutaro for his lead rope. Don quickly tied a knot at the end of his rope, then snapped the clip of Ryutaro's at the knot.

Fragile ice fell from the ropes as he worked with them. Don had to force his fingers to work through the numbing cold the ice brought. He pulled the connected ropes tight to make sure they held. Then he tied another knot at the end of the next lead rope, as to clip on another. As he worked feverishly, the others yelled to Leo to hold on.

"Hold 'er," Raph handed Trinity's reins to Mike. He took the free end of the 'rope' and braced himself against a young tree. As soon as Don finished, he went to assist Raph, in case he had trouble with his footing when he started pulling Leo.

The gelding sat on his tail, his front feet braced against the earth. Jon seemed to know if he moved, he would start sliding down again. But Leo didn't want to leave the horse behind, or his swords that were still attached to the saddle. He also promised Steve he wouldn't let anything happen to her horses. Jon was truly a good horse.

"I can't. Not without him..." Leo finally voiced his concern.

The rain turned into small pellets of ice. It created a new kind of sound in the moment of stillness the five held.

"No, Leo--c'mo--" Raph started to argue, but his voice kept breaking off.

His eyes didn't leave Leo's, but it was hard to focus on him in the dark. The end of the rope was just an arm's reach away his brother now. Raph sat down on the frigid ground. A vivid memory from his dreams flashed in the back of his mind...

__

It's the pure blackness, stuff that's suffocating and deadly, can't shake it. It hurts. It hurts...only to persist.

Then it throbs...a small spot in a light colored space. Growing bigger, so big it eats up everything...only to shrink down again. Throbbing like that, over and over. And then it takes shape. It's a demon, so overwhelming. Nothing could stop it.

It prevails over...us...

Don's voice brought him back to the problem at hand.

"Let Jon figure his own way up...Leo, please!" Don now pleaded. It sounded cold, but Don shared Raph's feelings about saving their own flesh and blood than some horse's. He finally edged over to Tally to pull a flashlight from his saddlebag to see the situation.

Mike looked around Eclypse to Ryutaro. The human hadn't said much in the way of help yet. "Your horse...any suggestions?"

Ryutaro kept his eyes down on Leo's dark shape. Then Don had him in the spotlight. The turtle managed to grab hold of Jon's reins, but he couldn't reach the rope.

"Urrr, that's not going to work, Leo! Untie his lead rope and use that. Reins are too short." Don yelled. He wanted to go down there and offer help, but would that be a good idea?

Ryutaro spoke in thought. "Save them both...both Leo and Jon."

But upon further inspection, Ryuu reasoned out a better plan. Don should go down and help Leo with Jon, while he and Mike held the horses. Raph could handle the rope without help. He certainly did not doubt their amazing effort on teamwork.

Without warning, Mike stepped over to Ryutaro and handed over Eclypse and Trinity. "Here, I'm going to help 'im."

"Wait, arrghh! Mike!" Ryutaro growled. The idiot! So much for his plan now. Mike just stuck him with two more horses and left. That made four he had to hold...three of which were a stallion and two mares not in heat. Ryutaro hoped the mares don't just start fighting to make matters worst.

Mike was already hiking sideways down the cliff. After a few feet, he took up a controlled slide down toward Leo. "Leo, climb up! I'll get Jon."

"Yeah, c'mon Leo," Raph whispered, hardly audible to their ears. He did not want him to leave them. He had such a bad feeling about this. His left arm hugged the little tree while his feet braced on the ledge of a rock...waiting.

__

Look, I'm sitting on my ass waiting for you, Leo!

Don knelt beside Raph when he noticed Mike. He flashed the light on him for a moment. "What the? Mikey...?" Now Mike's going down to Leo. He heard Ryutaro's angry yells as well.

Leo looked up to Mike with a scowl. "Grab the rope Mike, before you slip! I don't want you to get stuck too." He looked for the rope again, trying to avoid the light shining in his eyes. Leo gave one final lunge, and grabbed the rope with his free hand. Jon still refused to move upwards, so Leo was stretched out between Jon's reins and Raph's rope.

An ugly scream from Eclypse added to the tension. She pinned her ears and struck at Danza again. The stallion persevered with an excited nicker. He was starting to slip down the hill, but his hormones had the better of his common sense.

"Donny! Don! Get these mares!" Ryutaro yelled to him. Tally Ho stood apart from the stallion and mares to stay out of the mess. Danza, however, could only think about Trinity. Eclypse wouldn't let him, and made that point clear.

Don sighed in disgust. He wedged the flashlight in the mud so it shone on Leo and Mike before heading over to Ryutaro. Intimated by the darkness, the uncertainty of the terrain, and Eclypse's dancing feet, he cautiously slid in between her and Trinity to get the reins.

As soon as Don took them, Ryutaro grabbed Danza's reins with his free hand. His horse also had begun a downward descent toward the river. He dropped Tally's reins to have full control over Danza. "Take 'em away, Don -- c'mon Danza! Don't do this!"

Don backed away with the horses, and looked back down to his brothers. Mike held onto the rope now, and did his best to help Leo with Jon. As long as they were safe, but...he checked on Ryutaro. The dark figures continued to struggle. Despite Danza's attempts to climb up, he only dragged Ryutaro further down the slippery hill. Don started to feel more helpless. Ryutaro needed help too.

"Mikey!" Don yelled. He was up the rope more than Leo was. "Hurry! Danza's sliding now!"

"Ryuu...?" Mike called over to them in amazement. "Great..." He exchanged worried glances with Leo. They at least have Leo and Jon facing up the hill. "Man, he's gonna need--"

The buckle at the end of Danza's reins gave way and the ends slipped through Ryutaro's wet hands. He fell back onto the ground, but scrambled to grab a rein. Ryutaro came up empty handed.

"Damn..." Mike could tell Ryutaro lost Danza. The stallion slid a few feet from where Ryutaro sat. Feeling his despair, Mike left the rope to go after him. They could not loose his stallion. That was not an option. "Stay there, Ryan...!" Mike quickly crab-stepped across the cliff to reach Danza's dark figure.

"Mi-- Mik--" Raph growled. What just happened actually scared Raph more than it angered him. It's gonna...now would not be a good time for an attack. Mike was out from the light. Raph couldn't see what was going on exactly.

Relentless, Mike fumbled at the frozen knot of the lead rope around Danza's neck. "Whoa, whooooa...easy...do not move, buddy." He pulled on the loose end to release the rope from the stallion's neck. "C'mon, can you 'walk this way'?"

The first couple steps Danza took held strong. A smile of relief came over the turtle's face with this progress.

__

Yeah, c'mon boy... 

Mike groped for handholds on tree roots and rocks as he pulled on the lead rope. "It's alright guys, I got 'im," he yelled up to the others. Leo almost reached the top, taking a sideways path up the hill.

An abrupt jerk pulled Mike down the hill a few feet. The stallion came across more loose soil and started another slide. He felt the ground crumble from under his feet too. The turtle clutched at the earth, but the light he focused on grew smaller. The roar of the river below grew louder.

"Mikey!" Don's voice echoed in the valley.

Mike came across a small boulder to hold tight on. Danza stopped his slide not to far from him. All chances of making it back up looked impossible now. He could smell the fresh water from the river; he was so close to it.

"Mike!?"

He focused on the spot of light as it flashed around. The lay of the land made it so that he couldn't be spotted. Only Mike saw the light. "I'm okay! I'm okay...," he yelled up the cliff. "I think..."

He looked down to Danza's figure. The stallion snorted once in confusion. Mike hugged himself close to the rock, the cold, wet anchor in the ground. A sudden flashback haunted him. The river...Danza...being by himself--getting shot. 

"I'm going down," Leo edged back down the incline. But Raph kept on reeling in the rope. He looked up, letting it go. "Raph, I'm sorry. I'm not going to leave Mike down there, alone."

"Wh-- don't we go--?" Raph strained his voice. _God, this is pissing me off. I can't talk! Even worse, I'm thinking like Leo..._

"It's too dangerous for everybody to go down there." Leo lowered his voice, as to not attract any outside attention. "It's steep..."

Ryutaro came over to Raph with Tally help with the decisions.

"Leo--wha--what if..." Raph tried to speak. This was wearing his temper thin. 

Ryutaro looked at Raph, then to Leo. "What if one group is attacked, and not the other? Raph fears you two will be, and we can't help you, 'cause we're up here."

"I know...it's better to stick together." Leo focused on Raph and Ryutaro. He could sense all the feelings Ryutaro detected from them, and why Mike did what he did. The Turtle glanced once down into the dark ravine. "But...sometimes, that isn't an option."

They were silent for awhile.

"Leo...Tatsu, I know who--" Raph swallowed in hopes to make his voice stronger. "Tatsu...the Foot Clan."

Don gasped in disbelief. "That...bald guy, with the speech impediment?" The one we did "the shell shock" to at the clubhouse...?

"Yea..."

Leo didn't have anything to say at the moment. It didn't change the present problem on hand any.

"Go...go Leo!" Raph told him. Jesus, just be careful! He held his gaze on Leo a moment before standing up and winding in the rest of the rope.

Leo pulled on Jontondo's reins and started sideways down the hill toward Mike's direction. He stopped to tell them one more thing. "Continue on your path. We'll travel along the river. Come down to the river when you can find a good place."

"Okay. Be careful Leo." Ryutaro nodded.

"Damn..." Raph whispered. He took Trinity's reins from Don.

"Don't be afraid...there's still hope..." Ryutaro sighed. He went to Eclypse, also feeling a loss for his stallion. He wondered how "the others" would handle this little upset. "We better walk 'em, until the ground is better..."

Mike raised his head when he heard twigs snapping and leaves rustle.

"Mikey...?" Leo softly called when he spotted the dark figures.

Danza regained an another surge of energy as Leo and Jon approached. Leaves scattered as the stallion's legs thrashed to get up the hill.

"Leo? Ahh...!" Mike rolled away from the rock to avoid Danza's futile cliff climbing attempt. He got up on his knees to pull back on the lead rope. "Whoa...stop, dude!"

"Might as well. The both of us are gonna stick to the river." Leo told Mike.

"We're staying down here?" Mike struggled to get the stallion to stand.

Leo sighed. "And they're staying up there, for now..." He sensed some apprehension in Mike's voice. Once the stallion calmly held his ground, Leo wondered about Mike's condition.

"Despite sufferin' from hyperdermia, I'm hunky-dory-just-call-me-mud-and-join-the-club!" Mike smiled. 

"You mean _hypothermia_?"

Mike waved his hand and groaned. "And you?"

"You don't want to know." Leo picked his way down toward the river with Jon in tow. "I am mud."

Mike looked at Danza. The stallion seemed to have his mind set on going back up the hill. "I know...Danza." He tried to pull him around so he could follow Leo.

__

You're wondering why how this happened, and where Ryutaro is. But, you're stuck with me for now. We'll take care of you. 

Leo tied Jontondo to a tree next to the river. He inspected the bank, in search of easy access to the water. After he did, Leo pushed aside the torn part of his muddy jeans to check the wound on his right leg. There was not much he could decipher of it in the dark. Only the pain he felt told him it was bad. He had to clean the mud and debris from it, though.

Mike paused. 

__

Leo?

He glanced down to Leo's dark shape, then over to the ghostly gray shape of Jontondo. The gelding seemed to be looking back at something a lot. A dark shape near his flank caught Mike's attention. 

"Stay there, kay...?" he looked at Danza, then walked out to the end of the rope to inspect Jontondo's side.

Without light, Mike had to rely on other senses. He lightly ran his hand over Jon's flank until he touched a sticky, warm spot. That area felt different from the mud matting the horse's hair. Mike brought his hand to his beak. It smelled like blood. "Leo...Jon's bleeding, I don't know how bad..."

Mike's inspection was distracted by a groan. "Leo...?" He looked over to his brother's dark shape by the water's edge. _I knew it, you're hurt too._ Mike pulled Danza around to another tree where the ground looked level enough to tie him there.

"Leo..." Mike crept down and sat beside him. He watched Leo carefully wash his leg before he spoke. "How is it?"

"Bad skin abrasion... uggh, damn..." Leo muttered as he tried to pick some debris from the raw flesh.

"Gotta hurt like a muther..." Mike nodded. He stood up and carefully found secure footing on the submerged rocks in front of Leo. "Like, put your leg in the water to numb it. I'll help clean the rest out."

"Nuhhh...and you're just gonna kill me with pain." 

"C'mon, suck it up, 'fearless leadah'." Mike refuted with a smile he wished Leo could see. "I'm freezing me feet off t' boot!"

Leo slipped his leg further into the flowing waters, the coldness making the pain throb more. "Be quick...we gotta get moving." He gritted his teeth.

Mike gently ran his hands over the wound, stopping at intervals to pick at debris. "Leo, Jontondo's hurt...he's bleeding. You're still sick and I'm gonna freeze my fingers and toes off. Don't think we should go any further like this. We gotta stop and warm up..."

"Raph knows who Tatsu is."

Mike held his hands still to look up to Leo. He also had enough of the freezing cold water. Leo's leg was as good as it was going to get. He climbed out on the rocky edge and tried to squee-gee water from his jeans with his hands.

Leo sighed. "He is, or was, a part of the Foot. He was that bald guy, the one who was with the Foot when they stormed April's apartment...and in the night club."

"No..." Mike mumbled, forcing the thoughts from his head. He stumbled over to Danza, hoping they had first aid stuff in the saddle bags. Fortunately, he found a roll of vet-wrap (self-adhesive cloth tape) for Leo.

"Here...I'm gonna see how bad Jon is." Mike handed him the roll. He approached Jon again, his vision more adjusted to the dark. The turtle ran his stiff hands against the horse's warm side until he felt the gash again.

"We've got to keep going...the sooner we join up again, the better." Leo sighed. The sound of the vet-wrap peeling from the roll was heard.

Mike kept his attention on Jon instead. The gash was deep along the flank. He gently touched the edges in speculation of how it happened. Wondering if Jon's legs were all right, he also ran his hand down the right rear leg. Right at the horse's hock, he felt more stickiness from the blood and a flap of torn hide.

"Oh god...Leo...?"

He could swear he saw something light colored in the wound. Even though it hurt Jon, Mike gently pressed into it with his fingers. It looked and felt like the bone join, or tendon. "He's really messed up bad..."

"Point being," Leo struggled to stand up from the bank.

"We can't get far if he can't walk...probably why he didn't want to move." Mike stroked Jon's neck in sympathy. The warmth the horse radiated invited him too. He leaned against Jon's shoulder to warm his hands, resting his cheek on the wet, warm neck for a moment. Being cold blooded in weather like this was such a pain.

Leo had nothing to say for a moment. Then he offered the roll of vet-wrap to Mike. "Patch his leg up the best you can. We have to at least go up the river a few more yards, to find a better place that this to stop."

Mike took the roll and returned his hands to Jon's warm body.

"The others...knowing Raph, he's not gonna stop right away. Don't want them to not find us, because we are actually behind."

"If we only had a way...of telling them." Mike sighed. He stepped away from Jon to look at the gelding's hock again.

"I do," Leo looked up the hill. 

[FORWARD TO CHAPTER ELEVEN][1]   
[][2]BACK TO CHAPTER NINE[][3]  
BACK TO CONTENTS

   [1]: tmet11.html
   [2]: tmet9.html
   [3]: TMET.html



	11. HI NO DE - 11

HI NO DE - Chapter 11 ****

Juu- ichi...

Raph's mind had gone on auto-pilot as he trudged along the hillside with Trinity in tow. He barely acknowledged Don in front, or Ryutaro behind. His thoughts dwelled more on what had happened to the others. 

__

I can't talk…dammit…

All these negative feelings mounting up in him. For once, it did not feel right that they should be apart. _With this set up, somebody's gonna get pulverized, while the other goes on without knowing… and somebody here's to blame. _

It was Ryutaro. Raph felt certain this time the kid was up to no good. Just how Ryutaro insisted on bringing Danza stuck out foremost in his mind. Or how he seemed to know where to go out here. The chance that Ryutaro could have mind control over them worried Raph the most. 

__

That's it, he's fucking with our heads. Made Mike go after his stallion- he's been screwing with us the whole time, like with subliminal messages… _So if he tore us apart, and stuck one of us with his stallion, he'll make it look like he wasn't at fault! _

Without breaking stride, Raph snapped out a sai and slung it at Ryutaro behind him.

Ryutaro promptly stepped out of the way of a sai sailing toward his throat. He seemed to sense something like that was coming. He couldn't quite handle all of Raph coming at him though.

Don heard sounds of struggle. He turned around and gawked at the two.

Ryutaro's side seared from where the spears of Raph's sai grazed. He now held the arm with the sai away with both hands, while Raph got in a few more blows to his face. Ryutaro tried to kick the turtle off of him, but it was futile. The rage that powered Raph was more than he knew how to handle. 

Don brought down his bo hard at where Raph's shoulder met his neck.

Halfway ducking his head down in his shell, Raph thought he was being attacked. Period. He spun around to spear his sai into the new attacker.

"_Raph_!" Don caught Raph's sai with his bo, just before it made contact with his plastron. "Stop! It's--" he further blocked a couple more punches. _Sorry Raph, but…_ Don delivered a low groin hit between Raph's legs with his bo. Not something he felt proud of doing. 

Raph crouched to the ground with a gasp. Don looked down to him with a sympathetic look, lowering his staff, gripping the wood. At least he stopped Raph long enough to reckon with him. "Just _stop_, okay?"

Raph looked up to him, the pain very evident in his eyes. He showed Don the back of his fist with his thumb between his fingers - the Asian way of telling someone to F off.

Don groaned and looked over his shoulder to Ryutaro. He could make out the figure of him leaning against Eclypse. The kid clutched one hand to his side, the other gingerly touching his face.

"Why was he attacking you?" Don questioned Ryutaro. He had his own presumptions, but refused to believe them yet.

"He's on-- 'em." Raph was barely audible to them.

Ryutaro carefully wiped at the blood dribbling from his nose. The pain throbbing in his cheek made his right eye squint. He could barely see the two turtles anyway… nothing but stars danced in the dark.

"Is that true?" Don narrowed his eyes. Raph was hard to believe again. Ryutaro didn't seem like the kind of guy to lead them to certain death. 

"It is…" Ryutaro confessed, closing both of his eyes in pain for a moment. "Sorta… but I don't mean t' hurt any you."

"Huh?" Don couldn't make out his slur.

"I… made arrangements t' take Danza to 'em. At's all…" Ryutaro picked up his voice.

"You what? You mean you _are_ involved with them?"

"Yeah…"

Raph shoved Don aside to face Ryutaro. "Y' kne-- who T--ats--! " 

Don held Raph back. Ryutaro remained silent as Raph broke free from Don. Raph and Ryutaro faced each other, but made no further advances. 

"Not personally." The human whispered. He began to feel Raph's vibes, his intense rage for this Tatsu and himself. That hurt him emotionally. He didn't deserve to be part of that. Then he sensed a dreadful fear from Raph, a dark nightmarish flash. He picked up something like that from him before when they were helping Leo on the hill.

Ryutaro fixed his gaze on the turtle, trying to shake Raph's emotions from his head. _There's something… or somebody else influencing you. I'm not doing that…don't blame me for it, Raph._

He heard Raph groan in disbelief. 

Ryutaro had to admit, in the short time he got to know the Turtles, the more he saw them as friends. It was not his intent at all to do harm unto them. Nor was it his doings for the separation. He decided they all would go out together because of the safety it brought for him. This _Tatsumaki_ must be more than he believed him to be… 

"Why… How?" Don still didn't understand. _Does he really know Tatsu? _

"Don't ev-- know 'im," Raph croaked, straining to be heard. He was on the same brainwave as Don for a moment. "He-- cap'ble of _kill_'g us!"

Don looked at Raph, then Ryutaro. _The Foot, but not the Foot. That explains that, Tatsu… is _not_ part of the Foot anymore…?_

"So he's your enemy…the Foot…" Ryutaro nodded. He knelt down to the ground, his headache being too much for all this thought.

Mike pushed himself to keep in pace behind Leo. He was cold, but the injured horse he led made it harder to keep up. Leo offered to take Danza, to calm some of Mike's nerves. That seemed to make things a tad worse in retrospect. Now he was stuck with a slug, and had no one to cover his back. The cold strongly gripped Mike now, making his teeth chatter uncontrollably.

The darkness, however, got on his nerves the worst. Mike felt like he was eight years old again, when he used to be afraid of being in the dark sewer tunnels. Some stories Raph told him about New York's homicidal maniacs hiding in the shadows with them helped instill that fear. Along with the occasional sewer rat which would run across his feet when he least expected it. 

__

Something's back there… watching me… waiting to jump on me… 

Mike shuttered through his insecurities. He wanted to drop the lead rope and run up to Leo. He just wanted to run away from this. Every step Mike took, he was alert and tense… waiting for that moment gunfire would blow through him. 

"Mike!" Leo had enough of listening to his chattering. It seemed to be louder than the roar of the river. "_Quiet_!"

Stunned by Leo's outburst, Mike ducked his head in his shell a little in hopes it would muffle the chattering. 

Jontondo had enough of this misery and planted his feet. Mike tugged on the rope. Jon only stretched his head out, but refused to move forward. 

Leo continued putting one foot in front of the other. Over and over, he pieced together the words, the name, Raph told him when he was on the cliff. _Tatsu was the Foot Clan_. Leo shook his head… trying to clear it of those thoughts again. _This flu is making me edgy… and spacey too. Did I just yell at Mike?_

"Jon… c'mon! " Mike pulled harder. Jon stood firm. _C'mon! Leo's leavin' us behind! _Mike stopped to look ahead. He could not see Leo in the dark anymore. "_C'mon_!… urrrr…Jon! Leo?!" 

Panic began to set in further. _Maybe there's danger ahead… maybe that's why Jon ain't moving, oh god! _

"S-stop _Leo_!" 

"Mike?" Leo stopped. He could barely see the ghostly shape of Jontondo down a ways, but didn't really sense an immediate danger. Leo promptly wrapped Danza's lead rope around the first sturdy tree he could find and ran back.

Mike had his back to him, pulling on Jon. Leo reached out to touch Mike's shoulder, "Nee--"

"_Jaahh_aahhaaahhh!" Mike screamed, dropping the lead rope. He jumped around with nunchucks in hand.

Leo caught Mike in his arms, just to keep him from striking out. "_Shhh_, Mikey, shhh…" he held onto his brother's trembling body. 

"Leo, oh god--eo… " Mike mumbled in relief. He tried to relax as Leo held him in a hug, letting his head rest on his brother's shoulder. His brothers's assuring hold did give him more courage. And he was warm too.

"I'm here, it's alright…" Leo had a hunch Mike was freaking out about the dark again. 

"Da-damn… fre-_freez_-zing," Mike shuttered, not fully admitting his initial fear to Leo yet. But the warmth he felt from Leo seemed too warm. Lifting his head, Mike looked at him. "Leo, you're ra-radiating! Don't tell me you're runnin' a fever a-again…"

"You feel like a spastic ice cube." Leo grinned at Mike. _That's a good sign you're okay, you're making jokes._

"Lemme cool yah down…" Mike snuggled up to him a little more. "So I can w-warm up!" 

"_O-o-oka-ay_, that's enough male bonding for me, _let_ go!" Leo proceeded to pry off Mike's arms. 

"No, no! Leo… please don't go…" Mike pleaded with now a tone of sincerity in his voice. 

Nodding, Leo looked into Mike's longing eyes. His brother's teeth started to chatter again. Turning away, Leo scanned what he could of the lay if the land. It looked a lot flatter there than it had been. "Okay, we're stopping." Those words send a wave of relieve through his body too. Leo looked up the hill though. He hoped the others were gonna be okay, and that they would stop while up there too. 

"Yes, yes! Need a fire, _bad_!" Mike stepped away from Leo.

Leo continued through the brush in search of a suitable spot to park. "Let's make a lean-to first," he eyed a big pine on his way back, "to hide the fire's glow…and to keep in the heat."

Facing the gray horse, Mike let out a long sigh. The thought of now looking for firewood pulled his spirits down. He just was too cold to do that. Mike picked up the lead rope and pulled back on it as to get Jontondo to turn around. "C'mon… gotta look for wood and stuff…" Much to his surprise, Jon followed after him then.

"Ryuu…? Hey… Ryan?" 

Ryutaro instinctively sat up from the ground, grabbing at the arm holding his shoulder. The throbbing in his head and neck came back in full force too. 

"Whoa… it, it's just Don. Thought we lost you there." 

Ryutaro realized he was sitting on the ground, and had been laying on it. That was Don kneeling by him now, with flashlight in hand. _We_…? It was just Don there, Raph… Raph wasn't there. A crashing in the leaves and brush behind Ryutaro alerted him. 

"… was I… out long?"

"No," From the glow of the flashlight, Don could tell Raph rearranged Ryutaro's face pretty good. 

"God… I'm sorry. Shit…" Ryutaro gasped as he tried to unzip his coat to check his bleeding side. 

"Don't be," Don still had many questions about this sudden turn on the tables. But he decided they would have to wait. He looked over to his brother trying to find his other sai in the flora. 

Ryutaro tried to stand up on his own, despite waves of dizziness. "Where's… the horses?"

Unsure whether on not to help him, Don just stood close. "I tied them up over there. They're okay. I think we better stop for awhile."

Ryutaro felt for a tree trunk and leaned against it. He had no comment, understanding why.

"Raph will want to go on, but… I'm not." 

"Damn…" Ryutaro wiped at more blood trickling from his nose.

"What?"

"The two first aid kits are… down with Leo and Mike."

"Oh… " Don nodded. His mind started a mental search through the stuff they did have that could also work. 

__

Asshole. Ryutaro thought when the other turtle approached. 

Raph walked by the two in a defeated way. He couldn't find his lost sai, just to make matters worst. 

"Need a flashlight?" Don pointed the beam of light at Raph's feet. That was a risk, considering Raph's present mood. 

Raph turned and glared coldly at him. _We gotta get going again, _his lips shaped the words. He finally given up on using his voice too.

Don shook off Raph's stare, almost afraid to disagree with him now. "Not now." Don swallowed.

__

And why? Raph crossed his arms and held his dark stare. "Ju-- 'eave da tra'tah."

"Because… that's not right. Ryan didn't do anything to us. I'm not going to leave him behind." Don found more of his voice to protest. _How does Leo come up with such persuasive arguments?_

Raph stepped up, growing more impatient. _What about Mike and Leo? They're more important! _

Don remained silent, contemplating what Raph's lips formed. Trying to find a good response that would persuade him. "They got each other… that's why Leo went down to Mike." He sighed, _and I hope you stick around to back me up_. 

"Don!" Raph groaned.

Don gritted his teeth with anxiety. It seemed he was not getting through this brick wall of a brother. That was one of the things he just hated about Raphael. In most cases, he was too unwilling to get into a fight with him whenever his ideas conflicted. Don just gave up and let Raph have it his way. Or let Leo straighten it out. But now, considering the circumstances… 

"God, Raph!" Don held his hand up to him. "Why is it every time someone else has an idea that doesn't agree with yours, you hafta _bitch_ about it? If it's not _your_ way, it's bogus! I mean, _you_ can't have it _your_ way _all_ the time!" 

Raph looked at Don, blinking his eyes once over Don's renewed sense of authority. "Ok--ay." _Why can't we fix him up quick and move on?_

"We gotta stop and rest." Don put his hand on Raph's shoulder. "Raph… you're sick, you've lost your voice, I'm getting cold, and Ryutaro is a plastic surgeon's nightmare."

Raph turned away with a sigh of disgust. "Fine." he whispered.

Ryutaro watched the two, then finally spoke. "You think they, or we, will actually be attacked? I thought it was going to be more like a meeting." 

"They shot Mick in the leg… and from what we've learned of this from Splinter, implied an attack." Don faced him. "But I suppose, they had been a lot more peaceful with you, since you've cooperated."

"I dunno… " Ryutaro left the tree. "Now that Mike has Danza, they may put up a fight to keep him from them. They don't know what you do now."

Raph grabbed Don's arm, to get him to look at him. _That's more of a reason to go down there._

"I know, Raph… but it's dark and dangerous travel." Don refused to give in to Raph's insistence. 

__

What if Leo doesn't stop? He's probably thinking that we won't, knowing me.

Don glared at him. "No… Mike will make him, knowing him."

Mike knelt down on his elbows and knees desperately blowing on the glowing shreds of grapevine bark in the midst of the damp sassafras logs. Whether those logs actually were sassafras was another matter. They both had stuffed up noses and no leaves to go by. As far as Mike was concerned, all the wood was covered with ice if not wet. _C'mon… c'mon! I can't last like this. Eat it up, little flame, please. _

The pine boughs to one side of him closed in more as Leo bound them together. They chose to hide out under a pine tree, with its branches fairly close to the ground. Another old limb held up the boughs in front to give the fire ventilation. 

"Damn…" Mike groped in the dark in search for the small book of matches. _Maybe now, those six million other times dried out the tender._

"Um… try to go easy on those, huh?" Leo added his bit of concern. 

Mike struck another delicate paper match. _This little light of mine, I'm gonna make sure it shines… _he cupped the flame as he lowered it down to the tender. The flame settled in amongst the fibers of the shredded bark and grew brighter… larger. Mike knelt close to it, giving the flame whispers of his breath. Breathing new life into it. The flame explored deeper into the shreds, devouring its way through. 

With a smile, Mike sat up for a moment. He felt for some more of the shredded grapevine bark, and a few small twigs. Mike carefully added them to the starving flames as to not suffocate them.

Leo knelt at the open side of the lean-to, to watch Mike. He admired the almost patient care his brother incorporated into fire starting. The love involved. He himself was patient too, but it was amusing to watch the way Mike did it.

Mike flashed his smile to Leo. "I think we got it!" 

"Good," he crept into the lean-to a little more before stripping off the torn up garbage bag and his coat. The interior began to take on an orange glow from the newly born flames. "I rigged the ropes holding the branches down to snap up, if someone outside trips 'em."

"Brrrraaa hrr raaa hrrr…_fire_!" Mike shuttered once in excitement, before easing some more tender into the flickering, red flames. "They kinda remind me of Raph, when he gets hungry." Mike chuckled and glanced over to Leo.

He was sitting cross-legged, his elbows resting on his knees and hands folded at his beak in thought. With the fire illuminating Leo's face, Mike could also see the worry that racked it now. 

Mike sighed, before picking at the frozen laces on his boots with numb fingers. "I hope they _are_ okay up there too…"

Leo held his gaze into the small fire, not responding. 

Mike shrugged, and told the fire to wait a sec. He stepped outside to take off his soaked coat and wet jeans. "Hopefully… these'll dry out enough by the fire." He crept back in and draped the jeans and coat on the saddle bag stack. 

"Raph and Ryutaro were both holding something back. " Leo started. "Raph's scared…I sensed it when I told them I was going back down." 

"Yeah… " Mike pulled his bare knees up to his chest for warmth.

Leo looked over to Mike. "But it's okay to be scared… it's okay to admit it too." 

The fire gradually grew larger with each passing moment. The fire's glow on the pine boughs reminded Mike of a Christmas tree now. _I hope I live through this._ Mike looked over to Leo, to accept his challenge.

"I'm scared of dying… I don't want to die yet." Mike confessed to him. "That's the part of the dream I've held back from you guys. I got shot at."

A wave of sympathy fell over Leo's face. "Now I understand… "

"I just feel like such a weenie about it though."

"That you're afraid of dying?"

"You and Raph fight so well, Leo! I mean, you killed the Shredder by yourself."

"That was shear luck, Mikey… " Leo shook his head. "I was scared out of my wits facing him alone. I came _too_ close to death fighting with him, he would've got me… if the dock didn't collapse… "

Leo ran his hands over his head. "I just handle my fear in a different way than yours. To live and die by the sword… you don't know how much that expression torments me. When will I die? Will I die in battle, or will it be alone and without honor?" Leo stopped and latched into Mike's dark brown eyes. "I don't want to die yet either."

Mike remained silent, feeling his throat tighten. 

"That's one reason why I'm so good, I don't wanna die -- especially under the blow of the Foot." 

"But that's ninjutsu. What about guns? I can dodge a Foot soldier a helluva lot better than a _tiny_ speeding bullet." Mike strained his voice so he didn't sound whiney. 

"You've faced 'em before, when you go around busting those criminal-sorts with Casey and Raph." Leo tried to encourage Mike.

"They didn't know we were on to them… " Mike looked down. "That's different."

Leo sighed. "Be ahead of the trigger."

Mike folded his arms and rested them on top of his knees, then hid his face behind his arms. "I'm just not as good. I can't… " he choked back mounting feelings of frustration. 

Leo got up and crept to the other side of the ring where Mike was. "No… Mike, don't say that. Your fighting abilities are special as yours. What you got is the talent." Leo put his arm around his brother's shoulders. "Don't compare them to mine, or Raph's, or Don's. Splinter doesn't care if we are ranked. Rank doesn't matter, it's how we work together." 

Mike lifted his head up and quickly wiped a tear from his eye. "I'm sorry, Leo. I just… dunno if I could handle… those guns."

"You're not gonna be alone when you do, _we_ do encounter them." Leo reassured him. "Believe in yourself."

Mike set his chin on his folded arms and gazed at the blazing fire. His hands and feet were still numb, but his face grew warm from the fire's heat. "I'm gonna be okay." Mike looked to Leo. "But… I better check Jon's leg… the fire's going now." _That's what I do better. I'm good at giving life, instead of taking it. _

Leo stood up on the outside of the tree. "I'll help." 

[FORWARD TO CHAPTER TWELVE][1]  
[][2]BACK TO CHAPTER TEN[][3]  
BACK TO CONTENTS

  


   [1]: tmet12.html
   [2]: tmet10.html
   [3]: TMET.html



	12. HI NO DE - 12

HI NO DE - Chapter 12

Juu-ni...

__

Man… why am I so worked up about dying…? Mike rubbed his hands over his eyes in thought, then squinted at the fire as he waited for a small pot of water to heat up.

__

'Cause dead is dead. It's irreversible… forever.

And because we are it. We are… created by accident, and by coincidental accident, we don't get a chance of…he drew in a long breath.

__

So, this is what it feels like to be endangered. 

Raph's sharp words about his opinion of humans resurfaced, from that time when they came back from saving that suicidal kid. Suddenly, Mike understood the underlying reason to that outburst. Raph was jealous about being at the bottom in the superiority roles, while humans reigned as the dominant species. They try so hard to be human at times. Mike still remembered that one point in time he and Raph used to have feelings for April. It gave them great fantasies, but that wasn't supposed to be. Sure, they may seem human, but the truth showed that they are not even close. 

Could they be demons? Mick thought they were the four demons in the Bible, and then Ryan said they reminded him of the four horsemen. Could they be connected to that? To the end of the world prophecies? They are four. Splinter told them the Japanese for that number is _shi_. And it also meant _death_. Ninja, trained to kill, taught to be familiar to death, but yet, also taught how to dodge it.

__

Endangered all the same…

Mike stared at his cold hands, looking at them like he never did before. The nerves began to tingle all over this fingers as feeling awakened from its frozen state. Aggravated from that sensation, Mike glared at the aluminum pot with a frown pulling his lips taunt. The flames wrapped round the small pot big enough to hold a pint of water. Mike stole a look at Jon for a change of thoughts, for any inspiration. _I still have to think of a way to fix you up, buddy._

The gelding stood there in front of the so-called lean-to, eating a small pile of hay. On occasion, Jon would raise his head to look behind for Danza. Leo tied the stallion close enough he could hear him chew his hay. Jon snorted to clear the hay dust from his nose. He rose his head to chew for a moment, gazing upon Leo and Mike next.

Leo sat patiently, watching Jon, with an interesting look of wonder on his face. Mike slightly smiled at that. Leo just studied the horse's worried expression, enhanced by the large, dark eyes. Jon tended to shiver every now and then from the cold.

Mike switched his own gaze over to few things from the first aid kit sitting by the fire. _That's a multi-layered stitch job… I need something that dissolves back into the body. Can't use fish-line there. What would Splinter do… what? …Splinter… will he ever forgive me? _

He switched his gaze back to the pot and watched the small bubbles forming on the bottom. One of them started to sent a stream of bubbles to the surface. A sign the water was reaching near the boiling point.

__

…Ninja is master of its environment... How will that help now?

Muffling a cough, Leo continued to sit in wait. With some building concern, he glanced over to Mike. Deep thought had made Mike furrow his eye ridges. Leo thought of asking him if he wanted to talk it out, but decided not too. 

Leo watched the horse pick through the green hay with some interest. It amazed him how nimble a horse's lips were, in that they could sort and pick out the leafier bits of hay from the stems. 

Earlier, he carefully pulled off the bloodied vet wrap at Jon's hock, to get a better look by the firelight. _You must've gone across that stump I did. _He glanced down to his leg still wrapped up. Red blood was seeping through his jeans and the blue-colored vet wrap, but it didn't bother him any more.

He still felt bad the accident happened. Steve shouldn't have given him this horse. Jon was too good to go out on something like this. Leo looked over to Mike again. His brother had such an intense stare on that pan now. "A watched pot doesn't boil." 

Blinking, Mike hooked the wire handle with a narrow log to lift the pot from the fire. "Don't want it too," he smirked. "Who's first?"

Leo promptly pointed to Jon, then stood up. "He should be."

Mike nodded._ Great, and I'm still clueless…_

Jon swished his tail a couple times, as if he knew he was going to get doctored. He also looked back to the wound on the right side of his abdomen, shivering from cold again. 

Mike looked at Jon, then his tail, when the idea suddenly hit him. _Your horsehair, of course! Cool! That'll work! _

He went to the back of Jon to pluck a few hairs from his tail. 

"What are you doing?" 

"Getting something to sew him up with," Mike knelt back by the fire to retrieve a needle and gauze from the kit.

"With his _tail_ _hair_?" Leo looked at Mike with even more uncertainty.

"Why not… I don't wanna leave fish line inside of him," Mike washed the mud off of the strands in the pan of water. 

Leo stood up. "Um, could you hold him for a sec, I want to get a blanket on him." Leo offered the lead rope to Mike. "He's shivering."

Don returned from searching for firewood. He stacked the damp wood by the small fire on the slope. 

While carefully wiping his face with a damp rag, Ryutaro went through the contents of his saddlebag to find things they need. He paused a moment to look up at Don. Then picked up a curved metal scraper and a few horse-grooming supplies. "Here, give these to Raphael." He slurred some of the words, since his face was starting to swell. "It stopped rainin', so try t' dry 'em off so they don't get cold."

Don nodded and took the scraper and brushes and headed over to the horses. Raphael stood by Trinity as he divvied up the hay. "Need to scrape off the ice and rain from them, so they don't get too cold." Don held out the stuff to Raph. 

Raph set down the trash bag of hay, and sighed. 

"I have to help Ryuu. So could you do that?" Don insisted.

Raph took the supplies and set them aside in a crook of a tree. "After." He pointed to the hay.

"Thank you." Don flatly replied, and turned back to the fire. He went to his saddlebags, and untied a ground mat and pulled out some edible food. Ryan insisted he was okay cleaning his fce himself, so Don didn't have to do too much more. 

Ryan leaned back against a tree near the fire. He laid the wet rag across his face, hoping the wet cold would numb his bruises more. His nose finally stopped bleeding excessively now, but his jaw ached like something awful. 

Don spread out his ground mat near Ryutaro and the fire. "Is it broken…" Don sat down, "your nose?"

Ryan pealed the top part of the rag from his eyes and pulled a clean sock form his mouth. "No… I don't think. Loosened a tooth… that hurts like hell. Morphine would be nice right about now." 

"Think you'll be okay?" Don asked with concern. He could relate to the pain. It wasn't fun getting beat up by the Foot, or Razar and Tokka either. "I'm sorry about Raphael. I don't know… he's hasn't been himself lately."

Ryan leaned back and covered his face again. "He's scared. I don't blame him… I was really unsure about this whole thing too. I guess I didn't realize what I was getting into. Y' can say I was scammed."

Don pulled some beef jerky from its wrapper to eat. "How'd you get involved?"

"Uhh… kinda long story…" Ryutaro sighed, but he continued on. He decided conversation would keep his mind off of the pain. He also just wanted to get this off his chest. "A month ago, I went with Mick to Belmont with Danza and some other horses. One evening there, while Mick was doing something and I was feeding, this guy approached me asking about Danza. His lineage, racing history and stuff. That was weird… I first thought it was one of the barn hands. That's how he looked. Didn't think nothing of it then." Ryutaro paused, to spit some blood from his mouth.

"Then just last week, when they were gone on another race, and the manager left on his vacation, I was visited by the same guy I saw at Belmont. And he had another Japanese guy with him."

"Just a typical Japanese?" Don asked in between bites of jerky.

Ryutaro nodded. "They looked like respectable horse people. They said they were there to look at Sundanza. Said that the Edgley's were thinkin' of selling him, so they came to look as buyers, and look was all they did. I thought it was weird, cause Steve would tell me if she was going to do that! When Mick called that night, to check up on things, I told him about them. He said that was not true… Danza will never be for sale."

"Ohhh… I think they also bugged you. Could explain how they knew about us…"

Ryutaro sat up, letting the rag fall from his face. "Shit yeah… and I had the scarf pulled over my eyes. I didn't catch on till I started getting insistent phone calls from them. They started talking me into giving the stallion to them, in exchange for a lot of money. Even though the Edgley's had official ownership of him, he's really mine. They gave him to me… how that was, is another long story. But 'cause I had no where to keep him, he stayed on the farm." 

"So he's yours by theory then?"

Ryutaro sighed, "More like a co-ownership, like when he races, he's the Edgley's. Anyways, the guys were tryin' to talk me into selling him. I had a feeling that I shouldn't. But after they barged in, took Delilah, and shot Mick… I felt the need too. To keep the peace with them before they did worse."

Don nodded, staring into the fire. 

"It surprised me though, what you said about By Sacrifice being stolen from the racetrack. That's unrealistic. They have tight laws and guidelines for _all _horse coming in and leaving the track. And even if the outside identity is changed, the race horses have tattoos under their upper lips to ID them." He laid the rag back on his face.

Don shook his head. "I honestly don't know about that stuff. All I can say is that we're also dealing with ninja… they're sneaky. We even got in and out of there without disrupting the normal flow of activity." 

Ryutaro sighed and remained silent for sometime. "Did I ever tell you, that you remind me of my little brother?"

Don sat up more and looked at him. "What? Heh… I remind you of your bro?"

"Mmm, yeah, just the way you act." Ryutaro shrugged. "Well, both you and Mike remind me of him." 

"Oookay…" Don smiled modestly. Though he had to admit Ryutaro sort of reminded him of Leo. 

"Don't see him much anymore. He and Dad are in Ohio. I used to live there too." He told Don with some longing in his voice. "Don't take your brothers for granted, or let them take you for granted."

"What to you mean, did you and your brother fight or something?"

Ryutaro shook his head slightly. "No, I just wanted to leave home. He didn't want me to go."

Don narrowed his eyes, finally picking up on his implication. "So, you don't realize how much you need your brother, or brothers, until they are not around…"

Leo turned Jon so that the inflected side faced the firelight. Mike had washed out the mud from both of Jon's wounds the best he could. Jon had put up a fuss about Mike cleaning his hind leg, however.

The wound on Jon's flank turned out to be just an abrasion. Mike applied some Nolvasan ointment to that and approached Jon's hind leg with needle and horsehair. Mike looked over to Leo with a sigh. "Ready for this?" He knew it was really going to hurt for Jon. 

"Be careful, Mike." Leo held Jon's head. He turned to face Jon with equal concern. "And you, don't kick him."

"Hey, don't give him ideas…" Mike crouched down by Jon's hock to piece together the flesh. _Hrmm… that isn't part of your tendon, is it? This is sure gonna be a nice puzzle. As long as I don't stitch together nothing that isn't supposed to be, we're doing good._ Mike began to sew, despite Jon's protests. Every time he drew the needle through, Jon picked up his leg in a threatening way.

Leo looked back and forth between Jon and Mike. He also started to softly speak to Jon, in hopes it'll keep the horse calm. He started to feel like Mike didn't really have to do that, if it was going to be so much trouble for them.

Almost before either of them could see it coming, Jon fiercely cow-kicked Mike. Mike lost his balance from that, and fell backwards… his right arm landing into the edge of the fire. Realizing his position, Mike instinctively twisted away to get to his feet.

Leo turned Jon's rear end away from Mike, at the same time showing concern to his brother.

After Mike got over the initial shock of pain from the burns on his hand and arm, he mustered a reply for Leo. "_Gahh_… the kick didn't hurt, but the burn _does!_" He whimpered as he looked his arm over.

"You don't have to work on him, especially if he's going to be that way." Leo voiced his opinion.

Mike poured the rest of the water over his right arm, to wash off the charred marks. "Yeah-- _owww…_ yeah, I know. I just… don't want him to be like that." Mike briefly looked at the burns again, _mostly first degree, some second… I'll live. _He applied some of the same ointment he put on Jon, on his arm and wrapped it up with some gauze.

Leo watched him with more concern, since Mike was not going to give up. It was most likely that same drive he had, when he went to save the kid from drowning. "Is there a better way to restrain him? Any pain relievers in those kits?"

Mike nodded no, looking at Jon in thought. He pressed some vetwrap round the gauze. Some ideas came to his head. "What about using pressure points on him?"

Leo stopped to think. He knew what Mike was getting at. Use pressure points to over come Jon, but this time to help him and not hurt him. "Yeah… but, I can't exactly relate to a horse's anatomy."

"Um, wait… I know." Mike turned to Leo. "Back at the farm, Ryuu did something to Eclypse's nose while Mick gave her a vaccine shot in the butt. Mick later told me he… twitched her, cause she tends to kick when she gets shots back there."

"What did he do to her nose?" 

"Had a stick with a loop of rope at one end of it. He twisted the loop around her nose." Mike stopped, as another idea popped to his head. He turned to find one of his 'chucks. "It's like a horse has a pressure point in their nose. So that when it's pressed, it kinda numbs the horse. Mick said it gives 'em something else to think about."

Leo looked at Mike and his chucks. "Heh… you never cease to amaze me." He knew now what Mike had in mind for those.

"Lessee…" Mike slowly approached Jon. "Wanna try something new, boy?" Jon promptly caught on to Mike's intentions, nonetheless. But after a bit of trial and error on technique, Mike managed to get Jon's nose twitched with the rope part of his 'chucks. Certain that it was working, he urged Leo to hold the makeshift twitch while he finished his stitch job. 

Leo sat toward the outer edge of the tree. From there he, could look upon the horses from time to time. Once being natural prey, horses posses the instincts to alert them upon danger. He also learned from them that the other three were not far away. Sundanza would scream to the mares on occasion. Leo heard a faint answer, almost sounded like Trinity's squeaky neigh. The replies never got closer, so he decided they had stopped too. 

His hearing as a turtle was just as keen as a horse. Yet, it was better to have more than one lookout at a time like this. He could sense that someone watched them. Sometimes he thought he detected the faint smell of a human, watching and waiting somewhere near.

Mike would restlessly toss behind him in sleep, the dying fire would crackle, and the horses moved about. Leo adjusted his focus so those noises were blocked out. Closing his eyes, he reached out into the forest around him. Sometimes it was better to use even the sixth sense. Scanning almost, for sounds that are unrecognizable. The falling snow added a sort of hush throughout. That provided him the opportunity to hear any sounds of danger all the more. Sorting and filtering sounds. Acknowledging the babble of the river and the whistle of the wind through the trees. Detecting any other unusual odors that floated in the wind. Feeling the snow tickle his face as it fell around him. 

His intuition reassured him that nothing was going to happen for awhile. He could not sense anything wrong. Accepting the opportunity, Leo decided to slip into meditation. 

Don leaned against a tree as he stood watch. The cold had numbed his feet and hands already, and proceeded to chill the rest of him to the bone. He finally slid down to sit in the mud, hoping that huddling would keep him warmer. 

Sleep also toyed with his body… and so did fears about getting that flu bug. Don sniffled as his gaze fell over to the dark fire ring. To check on the sleeping bodies of Raph and Ryutaro. A shiver ran through him and passed. _Stop, ignore that… don't think about the cold. Think about something else._

Don closed his eyes a moment to shake the demons of cold and sleep. 

Leo wanted to make certain how the others were. His mind reached out, and brushed… he sought it again harder.

__

Don. 

Leo took deeper breaths to go further, to hold on. Don was not aware of him, so it was hard to hold onto his brother's consciousness. 

Then another sensation came over Leo. A greater strength he immediately recognized as Splinter. But his Master did not "speak" to him. Mysterious visions ebbed into Leo's mind. Images of gnarly things and threatening noises. It made him want to cringe in fear. He almost came out of it, but Splinter's voice echoed. 

__

Help them…help them. 

The sight of a demonic horse baring its white teeth flashed. Loud white flashes accompanied the whole vision, resembling gunfire. 

That was enough to jar Don back. He was wide-awake now, fearing the worse. _Damn… I fell asleep…I think._

His attention immediately focused on Raph. Don heard whimpers coming from him. He saw his brother, still covered by the blankets, drawn up on his knees and elbows. "Raph?" Don softly asked him. "Are… are you awake?"

Raph just went into a coughing fit, and rose up on his knees a moment later. Without another word, he left the fire ring.

Don glanced over to the dim shape of Ryutaro. He had risen slightly too, curious as to what was going on. Don sighed. "Don't worry, I'll go check on him."

When Leo snapped back, he heard the sound of a foot hitting the ground followed by Mike yelling. His attention was instantly focused behind him.

"_N-nooo_! Stop… aahh!"

Leo jumped around to see Mike thrashing in his sleeping bag. Leo caught his breath, relieved it was just that. "Mikey, Mikey, you're safe." He kneeled down on his knees by his brother and touched him. 

Barely awake, Mike rose to his knees, before shifting back on his heels. Leo silently took him into his arms, sleeping bag and all. Mike clutched onto Leo's shell, burying his head into his brother's shoulder. Nonetheless, questions needing answers filled Leo's head. It seemed like a long time before either one of them spoke. 

"I wanna go home, just wanna go home!" Mike mumbled to Leo. " I can't take this anymore. Why does he torture me like that…?" His voice broke off to a whine, as more tears began to flow. "I didn't mean to trick him."

Leo soothed him with calming words, as he found answers to piece together some advice for Mike. "Because… Splinter was showing you that running away… doesn't erase problems and punishment."

"Don't tell me, he was makin' sure I got my punishment…" Mike sobbed into Leo's shoulder.

Leo nodded, keeping his voice calm. "Through dream walking… like Splinter took the fears you had about the racehorse criminals and put it against you… but it seemed like more than that."

Mike started worrying. After all, he wanted them to kill the Shredder. But, now what? Splinter had been talking more and more about when he would not be around. Mike kind of ignored that thought, he didn't want to think about that time ever. It was like they were being weaned. "Why is he being so mean? Did I… what if h--" 

"Mike, no…" Leo stopped him. "It's called tough love. Splinter is not being mean, on purpose. He loves us so much, he doesn't want to hurt you… to loose us." Leo rubbed Mike's arm. "I think he's doing it to Raph, and I did see genuine fear in his eyes too. He's warning you two about something."

"Fear's a powerful weapon." Mike snuffled. 

"Do you understand now?" Leo asked Mike, now that he had slowed his tears. 

Mike nodded, which was followed by a long sigh. He kept his grip on Leo's shell. 

Leo pulled up the sleeping bag around Mike some more. "Go back to sleep, Mikey, you need it." Leo stoked Mike's head once, then looked out toward the horses. He shifted his weight slightly so he could lean back on the tree trunk. _Now I understand too, Master. No more turning away… _

Raphael combed his fingers through Trinity's tangled mane in thought. No where else to go, he found himself there amongst the horses. The scenes of demonic animals kept flashing through his head. _Why are you scaring me, Splinter? Just stop it, please… stop it. _

He looked toward the mare's head, when she turned to look at him. She didn't look threatening at all now. Her soft dark eyes only offered condolence. Raph leaned against her warm shoulder and sighed. Her warmth and furriness briefly reminded him of Splinter.

Raphael heard footsteps behind him, then stop. He didn't turn around though. 

"What happened, Raph? You're not going to leave now?" Don whispered.

Raph sniffled once. He still faced Trinity, hoping Don would go away.

Don waited for a better reply than that. He could tell Raphael didn't know what to do. It was tearing his brother apart. The visions Don had awhile ago are making better sense now. He didn't fall asleep and started to dream. He was brought into something more, something from Splinter. Don tried a better line, "I wanted to go down there too."

Raph remained still against the mare, only the occasional sniffle and cough to be heard from him. _Just go back, Donny. Leave me alone._

Don sighed. He walked over to the front of Trinity, and held her halter. "Raph, I know something's bothering you. I heard you crying…"

"No. Wasn't." Raph whispered. "Flu. Runny beak." His eyes remained down, focused on the bottom strands of Trinity's mane.

"Stop hiding, I know the difference. You were crying." Don reasoned with him, the concern evident in his voice. For some reason, the next question felt so awkward. He wasn't trying to win the satisfaction of Raph's weaknesses either. "Do you… want to talk?" 

"Why?" 

Don sighed, and lowered his voice. "Because… you look really confused... and scared, about something."

"No. Get lost." Raph strained his voice, before breaking out coughing.

Don gave Raphael a dejected look, then left them to go back to the fire ring.

Much later, Raphael finally returned. Don silently watched him as he wrapped himself in the blankets. 

"Donny," Raph's voice was barely audible. "Sorry. Just needed to think..."

"Yeah… sometimes everybody hurts," Don whispered. "Just don't forget you still have us."

The mid-morning rays shone through one side of the pine boughs. Light also played through the branches of the surrounding forest. It highlighted the fresh, white snow stuck to the sides of trees, the rocks, and blanketing the ground. A serene setting, only hiding the ice and mud underneath. 

Mike still liked the snow, despite what new hazards it brought. Like having to worry about being tracked, or that they are not well hidden in a white setting. Mike looked over to Danza, whom he tied by the front of the lean-to. _I soon as rather be back home, in my nice warm sewer, and I imagine you're thinking the same. But a barn for you._

The turtle scraped the cooked pancake from his pan, fanned it in the air to cool it off, and offered it to Danza. "Want another? I know you do… we're running out of hay and grain." 

Danza hungrily bit it, letting the other half fall on his hay. 

"Glad you like them," he pulled up on his collar more to keep the cold out. He heard Leo start coughing some more, then watched the sleeping bag shift around and rise. 

"Good morning, Leo." Mike dropped a spoonful of batter in the small, mess-kit pan. "Hungry for some pancakes?"

Leo sat for a moment, coughing. "Pancakes?" he finally confirmed. "Made with _what_?" He also noticed Danza almost in the lean-to with them. 

"Heh… some bran mash, that instant powdered egg stuff, chopped up apple, water… they're kinda dry and seriously need some butter and maple syrup, but hit the spot if you're starvin'." Mike smiled. 

Leo frowned, trying to shake the sleep so he could make sense of all this. "_Why_ is he in here? Where's Jon?" 

"I'm _feeding_ him." Mike replied in a matter of fact tone. "Jon's still tied where he was- I fed him too. He's still kinda grumpy. The pain's eating at him, I guess." 

"You look better too" Leo softened his face. "Had me worried last night."

"Um… yeah, sorry…" Mike poured the last of the batter into the pan. "So, are we heading back once we meet up with the others? Our supplies weren't meant to last forever."

Leo nodded, then got up from the sleeping bag.

Leo took the lead, walking with Jontondo as he hacked a pass through a thick lay of briars with his katana. The stupid things started to eat at his patience. The vines would cling to his coat. The thorns would snag at his hands and leave behind itching scratches. 

Mike followed behind, astride on Danza and out of most of the stuff. He had offered to take lead, since Ryutaro's sword was also on Danza's saddle. Leo seemed to decline the offer. Mike had a feeling the others were close, if not more visible with the snowy backdrop. He couldn't see much when he looked up the steep hill though. Mike stopped Danza, brought his fingers to his mouth, and whistled the call of a chick-a-dee. _Nothing_. Mike tried again, making it as loud and clear as possible.

Then the song of a sparrow replied. _Raphael_. Mike smiled. Leo also heard, and stopped to look up the hill. He looked back to Mike with a smile. "As soon as we get out of this stuff, let's get back together."

Don studied everything down the hill in search of the other two. Hope and urgency filled his heart. 

__

They're down there, close enough to be heard!

Raph looked back to Don and Ryutaro. He wanted to head down the hill now. The underbrush was everywhere. They might as well start plowing through it if they wanted to get anywhere. And he felt a sincere urgency they better go now, or something will happen.

Eclypse also called out to the horses below in anticipation. Ryuu shook his head no. He saw something below move, and it didn't look like one of the Turtles. "Wait…"

Don twisted in the saddle to see Ryuu. There was something about that "wait" that didn't sound good. 

Mike looked up the hill. "I'm gonna take a higher road… the brush looks a little thinner up there." He turned Danza off the trail, allowing the horse to pick his own way.

Leo looked up to Mike, wondering what good that would do. _Oh well… _he continued clearing aside the stuff. _I was going to go closer to the river where it was clearer._ He heard some odd noises from Mike's direction. Leo looked up his way, suddenly feeling a wave of fear rush over him.

Danza had stopped, ears perked. Mike was leaning over slightly and clutching his shoulder. "Leo… damn. I got hit by something… " his voice trailed off. 

A sudden crashing through the brush behind Leo froze them in their tracks. "Go Mike, run!" Leo yelled at him, drawing his swords.

[FORWARD TO CHAPTER THIRTEEN][1]  
[][2]BACK TO CHAPTER ELEVEN [][3]  
BACK TO CONTENTS

   [1]: tmet13.html
   [2]: tmet11.html
   [3]: TMET.html



	13. HI NO DE - 13

Juu-san...

Gathering up Danza's reins, Mike kicked the stallion until they bounded through the brush. He looked back to see a huge black horse and rider come his way. And Leo put himself right in the path of the monster. Danza picked up on his rider's urgency, growing more tense and unsure of things. He still galloped across the uneven bank the best he could. Mike tried to zigzag Danza or something like that… it was hard since he also was losing his balance. But falling off definitely was not an option now. Mike still had the feeling he was chased… _hunted down_! _What did they want? Danza?_

* * *

Don's eyes grew big when he spotted what Ryutaro set his sights on. Another horse with a rider came fast after Mike. Much to his amazement, it went right by Leo. Even more, despite the fact the horse was almost the size of a Clydesdale, the briars hardly slowed the horse down at all. It bounded through them as quick as a deer almost. The rider, however, held something like a gun. Helpless, he glanced over to Raph, then back down the hill again. 

Raph disregarded what the others thought, and the fact the hill was covered with dense brush. He wasn't about to sit and watch the results. Raph turned Trinity down the hill and kicked her into a rough canter. She quickly gave up on that to manage a sort of sliding, leaping scramble down through the brush. Raph ignored the worried cries from the two above, and set his eyes on the dark rider.

* * *

Leo left Jon behind to run after the horse and rider. _Now would be a good time to have a bow and arrows_, he thought as he gripped his katana. The turtle tried his best to leap through the rough path the horse made. Many thoughts ran through his head on how to do this, but a feeling of helplessness about the whole situation kept bugging him. If he could just close the gap between him and this enemy, there might be hope. Just to get close enough to throw a sword at the rider. He hoped it would be enough to injure the rider, if not distract him away from Mike. 

* * *

Don held his glare on Raph as he made his way down the hill. Indecision crept across his mind as he looked over to Ryutaro, but the answer finally came. "Raph's gonna need backup - they all will. If he goes, I go." Don gathered his reins, readying himself for action. He had noticed a few yards ahead that the brush was thinner. There were more trees, but he rather battle those than briars. 

Ryutaro nodded. "They all do, but -"

"Then stay here as a second backup." Don yelled over his shoulder. He clucked Tally into a rough trot, which broke into a canter. They headed up on a higher route, keeping an eye on Raph and Trinity crashing through the brush in a most haphazard way. The turtle also heard Eclypse's worried scream behind him. Trinity's squeal for response echoed through the valley. As much as Don's own anxiety on the situation built up, so did Tally's. The little pony mustered a short reply back to the other two mares. 

Tally didn't understand what was going on. All he could sense was panic from his rider and the other horses. Don grew stiffer in his arms and legs, and started to hang more in Tally's mouth and use less of his legs. Tally braced his jaw against the bit and ignored it. Don's hands were not making sense with the rest of his cues. All Tally understood was "go faster". That sounded good to the pony. He wanted to be free of these confusing signals and fearful sounds, to get back to safety with the other horses. The pony spun around.

Don gritted his teeth in frustration. _No, don't do that. I don't have time for this now. C'mon, please…_ he tugged at a rein to pull the pony back around. He took another quick glance below to see what else had happened. The pony finally gave in, and Don urged him forward again. Tally took on a faster canter.

* * *

__

Go Danza, go Danza…

Mike pleaded, in stride with the stallion's breaths and struggling gallop stride. The turtle's hands held tight to the red mane, bracing his body as he tried to keep his legs on each side of the horse. Danza tripped a time before, leaving Mike hanging on sideways. Only the fortunate rush of adrenaline helped him pull back up without Danza breaking stride. Another strange sensation hit him in his arm. Mike wanted to feel what hit him, but he was afraid to let go of the mane for that long. It felt like a needle or a dart was in his arm. 

Rhythmical breathing matched with the pounding hoofs told Mike that massive monster was at Danza's heels. Then it was right next to him, reaching for his reins.

Mike tried to steer Danza away from it, and pulled Ryan's sword in defense. The sword glowed like a blue-white flame, like the breath of a dragon. He brought the sword down on the rider's arm. It enveloped the arm in white fire. Danza hopped around the other horse, his shriek filling Mike's ears. Mike's free hand still held onto the mane, as he kicked at the rider. Danza reared high, challenging the monstrous horse to a fight. Mike swiped at the rider again when Danza came down. The fiery blade clashed with something hard… perhaps the rider's gun. The events began to get fuzzy, but Mike wasn't going to give up. Little did the turtle realize this fight was only a hallucination from the tranquilizer. 

__

What did you shoot into him?

Leo hunched down in the brush a bit to watch the rider take Danza's reins. There was no way he could get close to that horse now. It definitely would kick at him, as well as rear and then some. His gaze settled back on Mike, who was out cold and hunched over on Danza's neck. Leo zoned his sights back on the rider, wound back his arm with a katana in hand - point first, and launched it at the rider's back. As if the guy had eyes in the back of his head, he promptly twisted around and batted the sword away with his gun. He flashed a cold smile to Leo, then urged the horse into a trot. 

Leo resteathed his other katana and jumped out of the way before the savage horse ran over him. The horse and rider plunged into the river to cross it.

* * *

Branches snapped, long thorny twigs snagged at his jeans, and blinding sprays of snow taunted their journey down the hill. Raph clenched his jaw in tension. His eyes never left Mike and Leo below, but the situation was not getting any better. Trinity stepped in a soft spot of ground, causing her whole left leg to sink down. At the speed she was traveling, it brought herself down to her knees, and caught Raph off guard as well. He landed on her neck, before falling off to her left into the briars below. 

"Ahh, shit! Don't move, do _not_ move, mare!" 

Raph's left boot had slipped through the stirrup iron of his saddle in the fall. He was now hanging by his foot at her left side. Struggling in the broken thorn covered vines, he lifted himself up with his hand to relief some of the stress on his leg. Trinity struggled to get up on her feet a little more too. She was oblivious to the predicament Raph was in, just her own.

"_Damn it! Whoa!_ mare, _whooa!_" he grabbed her foreleg get her attention. "God, of all things…I thought you were more sure footed than that!" Raph attempted a modified handstand to ease more of the pain. He couldn't get free of the stirrup though. He also tried to get a glimpse of the action below through the twigs and snow. It looked like that horse and rider took off with Mike and Danza. 

__

This sucks… where you at, Leo? Don?! Geez!

Raph then remembered he had that dagger on him somewhere. With one hand, he batted through the trench coat that hung around his head in search for it. With that, he could cut the stirrup leathers, which held the stirrup iron, and free his foot.

* * *

Ryutaro jumped down from Eclypse to approach the still turtle lying in the snow. Don laid on his side, but he had not moved or tried to get up after the fall. There was blood in the snow by his mouth too. Ryutaro tucked the reins under his arm, and knelt down by him. He shook Don's shoulder and spoke to him. "Don… Don? Can you hear me?"

A few seconds passed before Don opened his eyes. 

"You're gonna be okay. Don't move yet, looks like you kissed that branch pretty hard." Ryutaro told him, with relief.

Don moaned in pain, as he made a grimace with his mouth. He slowly brought a hand to his jaw. "Who wa' I kissin', Keno?" he mumbled, then closed his eyes again. "An' when d'it snow?"

__

Keno? Maybe you're not okay yet. Let some more oxygen return to your head. Ryuu noticed Tally walking back to them, now curious as to what happened. "Just lay still, don't move. Okay? Donny?"

Don managed to open his eyes for a moment to acknowledge the kid. Regardless to the instructions, he pushed some snow away his face and tried to raise up.

"No, just lay there. _Don't_ move. What hurts?" Ryutaro asked. He wanted to make sure Don hadn't broken anything.

"Jaw."

A feelingf of perpending urgency came over him. There wasn't time for this. 

"Anything else?"

Don frowned, not really sure.

"What's the color of this string I'm holding?" Ryutaro showed Don his index finger and thumb held together.

__

Why is he asking me that? We gotta go... Don squinted, "W-what string?"

The kid grinned, nodding to Tally. "Okay, do you remember the name of the pony you were on?" Tally cautiously sniffed Don's boot. 

"Tally."

"Is it starting to come back to you now?" Ryutaro shifted his weight to his other foot.

Don nodded. He fell off Tally again. But he didn't remember much of it though. How did he fall... no, worse. Mike was in trouble. "We gotta get going now"

"Definitely," Ryutaro nodded. He sensed some confusion from Don again.

Don sat up to notice Tally by him. He spat some blood from his mouth. "Did ya see what happened? What about the others… like Raph?"

Ryutaro shrugged. "Looked like Tally got mad and took off, and went right by this tree with a low branch--" He pointed up at the tree they were next to. 

"No, I meant about Mike. Did Leo stop them?" 

"No... it sounded like they lost him. Raph's on the hill somewhere."

"Oy vey… " Don frowned, going through another wave of pain from moving his jaw too much. He leaned against the tree to get his legs under him. "We gotta find out what happened to them."

Ryutaro stood close, ready to give Don a hand if he needed it. "You sure you're okay?"

"Ninja have done worse." Don shrugged. A sense of apprehension went through him when he turned to Tally though. _Chicken excrement_. He furrowed his eye ridges at the pony while picking up the reins. 

* * *

Leo splashed through a shallow part of the river, running after the rider who had Danza in tow. The black horse was going at a fast trot, while Danza lagged behind at a fast walk. Leo almost twisted an ankle when his foot lodged between two rocks in the river. He more or less fell back into the cold water to get his foot free. There was no way he could stop the beast by himself. He watched the two retreat into the woods. Hopefully, Mike would slide off from Danza before the tandem went too far. They could do without the stallion, but it was his brother he cared for more. Balancing himself on the lose stones, he started back to shore. 

Rustling and snapping noises from the hill alerted his attention. Leo lifted his head to see what it was. He promptly picked up the pace after he recognized whom. Raph slowly led Trinity through some brush toward the river. Leo suddenly relieved to see him then. "_Raph_? You okay?" he noticed Raph limped slightly and had a stirrup iron around his left ankle.

Raph shook his head no as he bent over to cough through another fit.

Leo waited till Raph straightened up again before asking more questions. "Where are Don and Ryuu? We gotta go after them now!"

Raph looked over his shoulder to see from where he came. And to see where the other two were. They were probably still up on the hillside somewhere.

Leo more or less guessed what happened to him. "You came down through that? Geez, Raph!"

__

Yeah, and I fell off and about broke my leg. But Leo, please, don't start now. Raph rubbed some blood oozing from some scratches on his cheek. _Hell, you look all washed yourself in those wet muddy clothes._

"You know where they could be now? We got to regroup as soon as possible." Leo insisted, the pain of failure and the urgency of now also coursing through his veins.

"Dunno. Leo, can't talk. Lost voice." Raph whispered, hoping that'll make Leo back off some. He looked at Leo in the eyes, more thoughts coming into his head. _But the shit I want to tell you about what we learned of Ryutaro, and about what's really happening here. _

Leo turned away to locate Jontondo. "Soon as we get back together, I wanna track that dark rider down to get Mike back."

Raph faced the hill again in search of the others. A slight snarl crept across his face, imagining what happened to those two. _That traitor probably has Don held up by gunpoint. I should've not left them… damn._

* * *

A guard and the rider dragged in the limb body. Tatsu nodded to them, and they drop it on the floor before him.

Tatsu sighed. His gaze fell upon the clothed mutant turtle. "Why did you bring me this?" He knelt down to pick up the creature's wrist for a pulse. The pulse was weak.

The rider that captured the stallion spoke. "He was riding the stallion."

His eye still on the creature, Tatsu straightened up. "You have stallion now?"

"_Hai_! He is in a stall." The rider nodded.

Tatsu studied the blood covering most of the turtle's shoulder and body. He also noticed the tranquilizer dart sticking through its coat at the upper arm. Tatsu turned toward his colleague who stepped up to see what lay on the floor.

"_Aaa, nani_?" Dr. Itoda knelt down to the strange creature. One that he never seen before.

"_Kame_… _zitsu wa_, a mutated turtle." Tatsu closes his eyes in displeasure. He really wished they didn't bring him here. "[He is one of four.]"

"[You know about them?]"

"[I only wish to forget them. Yet they still torment me.]" Tatsu furrowed his brow, realizing the immensity of what could happen next. He turned to the rider with a snarl, "Why did you bring it here? You should have left him in woods!" He had learned those four creatures are inseparable. Now his operation here was in grave danger of being discovered. They'll come here and ruin everything.

Itoda rolled the giant turtle on its back. "_Sugoi na…_ He's like human!" He pulled the soaked coat back. Then got his pocketknife from his pocket to slice the hockey jersey and jeans off for further inspection. It was truly a mutated turtle. He also came across a set of nunchuks that had been tucked at the waist of the jeans. 

Tatsu watched as the doctor picked them up. "_Ninja mo iru_."

"[Better bind him before he wa-]"

The turtle abruptly sat up. "Leo!" he cried as he struggled to get to his feet. He immediately started to run, only to fall down. Determined, he scrambled up on his hands and knees to take off at a staggered run again. The tranquilizer had not all worn off, thus making it very hard for the turtle to discern anything. Tatsu and another soldier finally closed in around the creature to restrain it.

"Nggh! Rompun was it?" Tatsu questioned the rider about the kind of tranquilizer used. He looked at the turtle the soldier held up. 

"We only thought we would have to tranq the horse." The rider replied modestly. "If it were the kid, this would not have happened. Those creatures wouldn't let me have the stallion." 

Tatsu brought a hammer fist to the turtle's left temple. The soldier let go of it and stepped away. He followed that with an elbow to the back of the turtle's head as it crumbled to the floor. "That will last longer. Nggh." He thought about killing it then and there. But that would not be necessary. The turtle already had been shot through the chest, dosed with enough tranquilizer for an 11 hundred pound horse, and now given a concussion. He'll just let it die a slow death. 

"Guard, take it away. Dump him in manure pit." Tatsu frowned, and looked upon the soldier. "Prepare to go back into woods. The others will be looking for this one. Keep them away from the laboratory." 

"[One suggestion.]" Dr. Itoda stepped up. 

"Nggh?" 

"[I like a sample of his blood, to see his DNA. Perhaps I can use-]" 

"_Tondemo nai!_ No!" Tatsu growled. He had seen that done before. A stupid attempt that was, and a failure all the same. 

"[It may enhance the horses.]" Itoda interjected his last words. 

Tatsu faced him. "[I want supreme horse breeding, not freaks of nature]." Besides, a horse that was too smart and too powerful for a human to control was not wise either. It was the horses' nature to fear pain and lack of reasoning that made them easy to be tamed.

"_Hai, Tatsu-sama_." Itoda sighed. 

Tatsu nodded toward the guards, indicating for them to take the turtle away.

* * *

"There they are!" Ryutaro looked over his shoulder to Don. He weaved Eclypse in a controlled sliding walk around the trees down the steep hill.

Don was close behind him on Tally. It took a little encouragement earlier, but Ryutaro talked him into riding the pony down the hill. He said that would be better, so Don wouldn't have to walk down through the snow and ground cover. Don was not in the mood to get back on though. He had it with Tally. He rather ride something else, if he had to ride. His head throbbed with each of the pony's steps down the hill. His shoulder also started to hurt from where he hit the ground. Most of all, he wanted to be back home where it was warm and safe so bad now. 

"Leo! Raphael!" Ryutaro shouted down the hill to get their attention. 

Raph looked up from the boulder he sat on. "Heads up, Leo." Tossing the stirrup he pulled from his foot by Leo to get his attention, Raph pointed to the couple almost down the hill. He quickly put his boot on and laced it back up, eager to get this show on the road. 

Leo stepped away from Jon to see Ryuu and Don. Then he bent over to pick up the stirrup iron to put away into a saddlebag. Steve probably would at least like to have parts of their gear back, if not in one piece. 

Raph removed the other stirrup from his saddle earlier, so he had to jump up on Trinity to mount her now. As soon as he settled in the saddle, a spray of sparks fell round him. Something barely grazed his arm. He heard Jon groan in pain too. _What the hell?_ A horse and rider came toward them from the other side of the river. 

"They're coming back for more!" Leo tried to drag Jon with him to duck behind the boulder. The poor gelding got hit several times there. 

Raph growled, studying the rider as he crossed the stream. _This guy doesn't look nearly as big as the one before. I got him!_

Yet, another rider came in alongside the hill Ryutaro and Don where on. Ryutaro and this rider engaged head on. The dark horse reared up, landing on top of Eclypse's haunches. She fiercely fought back with some kicks to the horse's chest. The dark stallion continued to bite and strike, as the mare did all she could to fend herself. Ryuu also exchanged a few words with the rider too. He saw that the rider also had a gun, but was hardly able to get to it now. 

* * *

Trinity also had a strong distaste for the brown horse that crowded her. As sudden as an explosion, she kicked out with both hind feet a number of times, backing up as she did so. That action caused Raph to fall on her neck again, but he managed to hang on longer that time. 

He saw that one of her kicks hit the rider square at his lower leg. The rider slid off in agony as his horse cowered away from the mare.

Pushing himself off her neck to vault to the ground, Raph took pride in what she had done. Without wasting any more time, he tackled the downed rider to the ground. The rider hardly had a chance against Raphael with his broken leg. The Turtle thrust his sai through the rider's throat and twisted it, as to fatally sever the spinal cord.

__

And that was for my brother.

Raph jumped back to his feet when he heard splashing water from the hooves of another horse and rider. Raph grabbed Trinity and hopped on her back again, before sizing up this next one. He glanced back once to see Ryuu further down struggling with another. Then he spotted Don on the other side, trying to keep Tally Ho under control the whole time. Raph decided to go and help them with that rider. Leo could handle this next one. 

* * *

Leo also watched this new rider cross the stream, and seemed to know Raph didn't have plans for this one. Leo had to think quick. Holding his ground this time, Leo stood as so he could brace himself against the galloping beast. Six feet and closing, he knew they weren't going around him this time. Their pace remained unfaltered as the gap closed. Leo ducked his head into his shell for the blow, and immediately drew his swords. 

The left sword plunged into the horse's chest, while the other managed to slash into the neck. Leo gritted his teeth in pain when the hoofs of the running horse hit his thighs. He also lost his grip on both katana as the giant animal reared up in alarm. Shrieks of pain filled his ears. A hoof came down on Leo's shoulder, another hitting his shell and knocking him to the ground as it bolted to the right. Blood gushed from the jugular as the horse stumbled to the ground. 

* * *

Raph approached Ryuu and the dark rider on one side, and made eye contact with Don. Raph paused, making up a quick battle plan. He only had one sai now. Better make that one count. 

Finally getting Tally to approach the fight, Don charged with his bo held out like he was going to joist.

Raph slung his sai at the dark horse's head, aimed at the eye. It hit the animal in the jowl, since it suddenly tossed its head. The sai fell to the ground, without any points scored. A second later, Don's bo jabbed the dark rider in his side, but the rider stayed on.

The rider's stallion turned upon Tally with teeth bared. The pony wasn't about to put up a fight with that monster and dashed away. Distraught, Don baled off him before something worst happened.

Raph took the next challenge instead. He forced Trinity up to the stallion's right side, to crowd the rider away. Ryuu then closed in on the left side, his eyes set on the gun slung across the rider's back. He focused into Raph, _keep his hands busy… you see that gun, Raphael? Try to get it._

* * *

The rider stood up from his fallen horse, bringing around a gun from his back.

Already off the ground, made ready for the gun next. He dodged to one side to pick up a sizable branch, and threw it at the rider. It didn't completely knock it from the rider's hands, but it bought some time. 

Don struck the rider over the head from behind with his bo. The rider released one shot to the ground before dropping the gun. The turtle took him into a chokehold with his staff for further restraint. 

"No, wait… " Leo called to him. "Spare that one. We need him to find Mike."

Don brought his bo down as the man fell to the ground unconscious.

"Thanks bro." Leo gave him a sincere smile. 

He shrugged, returning a weary smile. "I'd do it anytime."

Leo threw his hand at him. He turned to the horse carcass to reclaim his swords. A part of him didn't want to look at the horse in that way, it's neck bend back in an unnatural position with an ungodly amount of blood around staining the snow a deep red. He still couldn't believe he killed such a powerful and beautiful creature like that. Carefully, Leo brought the sticky reins around the limp neck to cut them off. The leather straps will work in binding the rider's hands and feet together. 

As if something told him too, Leo glanced over to the boulder where Jon was. At that moment, the gelding was down on his side on the ground. Leo's stomach dropped with fear. He knew why. That spray of gunfire was taking their toll on Jon. He quickly bound up the rider before hurrying over to his horse.

* * *

A soft buzzing droned…incessant, constant, never ceasing. Mike's skin felt the thousands of little feet crawling all over it. The stinging he also felt was simply unbearable. Those little feet, however, seemed to soothe the stings like a warm jacuzzi.

Mike abruptly choked awake. The sudden pain from the gun shots and someone beating on him flooded his memories, and then … 

__

I'm lying in…what…? Where am I? Gaa…acchk…can't breathe! 

Flies swarmed off of him when he tried to move. His eyes were open… he believed they were open. The darkness was so thick. Something pungent in the air stung at his eyes and burned his nostrils.

__

Hot in here…uughhh…stinks too. No... I can be in... I didn't die and go to... hell!

The warmth came from below, feeling soft and damp. He soon became aware of just how the stuff moved under his legs and his arms, around his fingers…then it registered.

__

"Ugghh! Maggots!" Mike said out loud, trying to sit up. "Oh god, euughh…I'm in some goddamn manure pile!" He wiped what he could off his wounded shoulder and arm in a panic. A chill when up his spine, then back down it as more panic set in.

__

They're already eating into me…I know it, just know it. Probably a lot more in my wounds, god...

Flies bombarded him, some trying to land again and take more blood. Mike grew dizzy, overwhelmed from the realization. He rolled over and retched on the infested manure in disgust.

* * *

Raph and the rider started grabbing at each other's arms, trying to pull each other off. Trinity didn't like being so close to this stallion and kept on pulling away. Ryuu, on the other side, kept on pushing Eclypse into the dark stallion. That worked enough to make it hard for the rider to let go of the reins. Fortunately, this stallion was not the neck reining type either. /P 

The Turtle grabbed at the rider's coat collar to make a reach for the gun this time. Trinity turned away, and he clung onto the rider until the both of them slid from the disgruntled stallion. The fizzing shots from the gun sounded during the struggle.

Ryuu stopped Eclypse, and let go of the rider's horse before another horse fight broke out. _Leave her alone, horny toad. While you're at it, go home_, he glared at the dark stallion. Ryuu paused to look down to where Raph and the other lay in concern.

Raph stood up on his knees in the snow, an evil gleam in his eye as he studied the impressive firearm in his hands. He stood up and aimed the gun as to shoot, "Raphie's gotta gun!"

Ryuu raised an eyebrow. These were another one of those times that Turtle deeply worried him.

"Shoots lasers." Raph turned around to a tree and fired, to demonstrate.

Ryuu let out a short sigh of relief, then noticed more blood in the snow around the rider's body. "You killed him...?"

"Hell, yeah." Raph located his lone sai, and stuck it back in his belt loop. The gun will make up for the other sai for now.

Ryuu sighed again, looking around for Don and Leo, maybe Mike too. Hopefully, that was all of those riders for now. Tally was up some ways, poking around in the snow for something to graze on. He spotted Don further down by the river, leaning against a boulder.

* * *

Leo knelt by Jontondo's head, exchanging glances between him and Don. He told him that the horse was shot up on the side he lay on. The blood staining the snow around them made that evident. Leo believed Jontondo wasn't going to make it now. The pulse grew weaker as the snow underneath grew redder. But Jon just wasn't any old horse to him. This dear steed reminded him too much of what happened so far, especially the care and determination Mike put into fixing up Jon's wounds.

He slowly stood up to look around. Soreness from being run over by that one horse started to set in too. More than the physical pain, his remorse built up within his chest. Yet, he willed himself to not cry over this. "Where's Ryan?" he desperately asked Don. It was doubtful Ryuu could help, but at least he would be here for this.

"He's coming, I see him and Raph over there." Don reassured Leo. He put his snowball for a cold pack back on his jaw. Don could understand Leo's anxiety. They promised to take care of the horses. Despite that, more of his thoughts were on Mike's whereabouts. Apparently, Leo couldn't stop the first guy that came for Danza and Mike. Then Don understood. Failure was Leo's worst enemy.

Leo knelt back down to Jon. He stroked the horse's stained neck. _You took my bullets, or whatever those where. I know, I should be grateful for that, but somehow… it doesn't seem fair. _

He barely noticed Ryuu bend down next to him, until he spoke.

"I'm sorry… The attack was so sudden, we-"

"Leo… you couldn't control that. Just be glad we all got through this one alive." Ryuu stroked Jon's neck once. His vitals were going downhill. "I noticed there's two of those other horses still running around here. We can take one of them for now."

"Doesn't deserve to die like this..." Leo turned to Ryuu. He noticed the kid's black eyes and swollen lip, but kept his thoughts on the matter at hand. "What would Steve think?"

"I think… she would understand, considering the situation." Ryuu frowned. 

He stood up and looked over to Don and Raph holding Eclypse and Trinity. Both of his brothers also seemed solemn now, with nothing to say. Raph leaned the laser gun next to the boulder near Ryuu. His eyes held Leo's, "C'mon… let him go."

Leo twisted his face. Seemed odd at the moment for Raph to be telling him that, especially from the attitude he had lately about some things. He looked to Ryuu for more of an explanation. 

Ryuu also stood up. "It'll be okay, Leo. Jon doesn't blame you for this, he was grateful for care you did offer last night and all. Just go, if you don't wanna see anymore." 

Leo knew now what Ryuu was going to do. But how Ryuu knew what happened last night came as a slight surprise too. Leo turned back to Jon. Carefully, the turtle slipped the bridle from Jon's head and unbuckled the halter. Ryutaro took them from him, as Leo unbuckled the girth of the saddle. With Jon's weight on it, he had to really pull to get the saddle's girth out as well as free the saddlebags. _Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you, Jontondo…_

Leo set the tack by the boulder, then turned to his brothers. "I'll help find Tally." He sighed.

"Tally's there." Raph pointed down the river for Leo. Don followed suit after him, to offer help.

"Leo… you wanna take Tally? To ride. It's just, well…" Don shrugged. He didn't want to sound too selfish now by admitting that he didn't want to ride the pony anymore. 

Leo kept his silence as he walked toward the little gray. He only wanted to leave that gory scene for awhile.

Don lagged behind, letting him be. He felt his own personal loss for Mike though. He hated feeling that awkward silence where Mike would usually have something to say. He physically felt so bad already, the bearing concern for Mike and these horses made him feel miserable, thoughtless... ignorant. He took in a breath to shake the feeling. The sight of another horse helped redirection too. It stood patiently, despite having its reins caught up in the branches of a fallen tree.

__

I'll save you, if you'll be nice. 

Don though she looked like the one Trinity wailed on at the beginning of the attack. The irony of the moment.

* * *

Mike tried to gasp for air, but it was so heavy with ammonia and methane dioxide. Thanks to Donny's enlightening stall-cleaning gripes…_ammonia, also a by-product from the urine_, _not just the stuff in Windex._

__

Damn, it hurts to breathe…or see, Mike leaned away from the reeking waste matter. It smelled like every bad smell on earth. And the undeniable smell of death--something had died in here too. 

__

Leo? Where...how long have I been in h-- you all better be okay…man, if I don't bleed to death.

Mike noticed his clothes were off of him now. His belt wasn't, but his 'chuks were gone.

__

But…what about… 

Leo advised him to keep the matches on their bodies, just in case they got separated from the horses and gear again. Mike smiled a weak grin as he checked a pocket under his belt where he also kept a couple shiruken. 

__

If I could see where I am…if I could find a way…**if**…

"Ughhh, get off, get off, get away from me…" he shooed at the flies in agony again. They just settled back down on his bloody skin as fast as they left. 

__

Futile.

Annoyed, Mike dropped the matchbook between his legs. Did he really want to _see_ the trouble he was in? Arms folded cross his knees, he rest his forehead on them to think.

**__**

What am I thinking? The gasses…methane too…I'd blown myself up. Like a match held to a fart!

Mike's nostrils seared whenever he inhaled. As if he didn't have enough pain, the fumes were probably killing him from the inside out as well. Despair welled up inside again. It was a fact that was hard to deny now. 

__

I'm dying 

__

The air is black... black death

Mike let tears fill his burning eyes, as poetic words for his misery flowed in and out.

__

I am breathing Death into me

slowly…

with each agonizing breath

Mike pulled a shiruken from his belt. Holding it in one hand, his thick fingers felt its delicate, sharp points.

__

Black-Tainted Breath... of Death

He squinted his eyes…trying to force that thought of Suicide from his head. He never thought It would come to him. They never thought...

__

They…?

His brothers, Mike missed them so badly. They'll miss him too...

* * *

Ryutaro, Raph, and Don had moved the dead rider and horse by Jontondo next to the boulder. Raph left to take the saddle off the brown mare they reclaimed, while Don helped Ryutaro gather branches, pine boughs, and briar vines to cover the bodies. 

"You're too freakin' big!" Raph had put Jon's saddle on the brown mare's back, finding the girth that was on his saddle too short. 

Don couldn't help but notice the predicament, and offered his solution. "Switch girths from her saddle with Jon's saddle."

Raph looked at the bulky saddle he removed from the big horse, then removed the girth. He looked at Don, and cleared his throat in an attempt to talk. "Couldn't ride a pony, but okay with this?" Raph pointed to the mare behind him. She was so tall, her withers were as high as he was. He had to step up on a downed tree to put the saddle on her.

"Ryuu could tell she was a bomb proof horse by looking at her features and the gentle look in her eyes." Don explained to him. "Yeah, I'm kinda ify about her too. I guess 'size matters not' with most horses."

Raph gave him a funny look. "You do this, then. Get t'know 'er." He handed him the girth.

A look of distress swept over Don for a moment. But long enough for Raph to see it. 

__

Geez, Donny, quit your belly aching. Raph sighed, then mouthed the rest of his thoughts to him. "I fell off three times in an hour, but ain't letting that get to me."

Don blinked. What he felt and what Raph accused him of were not related. Nonetheless, it sparked a complaint he had about Raph he decided to make known too. "If you weren't making like _The Man from Snowy River_ and charged down through the briars without warning us, I wouldn't have been knocked off by that tree trying to catch up!"

"That's my fault?" 

* * *

"Leo… don't blame yourself." Mike whispered. He pushed his index finger into a point of the star until it pierced the skin. That prick felt like nothing compared to the burning and the hopelessness. He rose the star to the side of his neck, a gift for his jugular vein.

__

Nothing's fair...

Then Mike felt a peace.

__

The others… they needed him, wanted him, to embrace him.

He let out another gasp. He had been holding his breath, resisting the black air.

* * *

After he tied up Tally, Leo approached the two arguing senselessly. "Guys, _stop_… save it for the enemy." 

Ryuu stopped by Leo, a visceral look on his face. "They've been at it since last night..."

"Let's get going with this then." Don mumbled. He turned away to finish tacking up the big mare. 

Leo reached out to stop Don from leaving. "No… I mean we gotta help Mike _now_. I can feel his pain… I can feel him giving up. It's scaring me!" Leo stepped up closer to Raph and Don and lowered his voice. "Can't you feel it? Like the quiet before the storm?" 

Don closed his eyes a moment again, hoping to feel something again. _So that's what that "gut drop" a moment ago was. _

Raph sighed, realizing what Leo was telling them. But the immediate anger that built up with in him wasn't allowing any other feelings through. Raph gritted his teeth and looked away. _Leo, I want to, but it's…_

Leo put his hands on Raph to get his attention. "You can, Raphael. You have the will, we can. Relax…" Leo smiled ironically at his last words, then continued. "Let Mike know he can hang on. We're on our way."

He looked to Don, reaching out to touch him on the shoulder too. 

__

It will be okay... 

Ryan stood by, watching the three turtles. Just seeing how they interact, and knowing what force that drove them on to do such daring defeats also touched him. He understood their simple morals, and their bonds. They were freaks of nature by scientific definition, but so much more kindly than most of the people he met in his whole life. Ryuu also reached out with his concern for Mike, in the form of a prayer… the way he knew best.

* * *

__

Air! Damn blackness…

Mike blindly threw the star at it.

His thoughts froze. Through the incessant drone, he heard the star bounce off of something solid.

Now he had to light a match. What was a little match going to do? He would need a grenade to create a fatal explosion. He just had to see... Mike felt for the book and picked it up. 

__

What if…he stood up slowly. Faint stars appeared in the darkness. Mike crumbled down, and waited for what little oxygen he had get back to his head. He held the matchbook in his teeth and continued his quest to the wall.

The stuff started to slope downwards right away, so he rocked back on his heels to pull out a match. As soon as he struck it, the little match lit up so explosively it blew itself out. The brightness of the flash also hurt Mike's retinas. All he could see now were big, purple spots in the darkness.

__

Great, you dope, don't look at it next time!

Annoyed by the spots (as if the flies weren't enough), Mike pulled out another flimsy match. In the next burst of light, he saw what looked like a cave wall to his left. 

He was close too.

Mike stumbled through the compost until his fingers touched the cool wall. His head pounded for the need of oxygen now. His nostrils and eyes burned. Always burning… stinging everywhere… Mike slid down on the wall, feeling faint again.

__

Air…need air…life. Which way...?

Mike felt like he was going into shock. The cool wall brought on poignant feelings of homesickness. The sewers… 

__

Master Splinter…I need you. How do I get out?

Mike closed his burning eyes, tears flowing freely from them. "Forgive me…I need you! I'm so scared…" He huddled up against the wall, his soft wails continuing. 

__

"Splin_-ter…please…!" _

Will I ever see your reassuring eyes again? Feel your warming touch… I love you. Let them know I loved them too. 

Mike choked in another breath. He could smell the earthy dampness of the wall now. It gave him some strength.

__

I…gotta decide which way to go. I gotta... He wiped a tear mixed with dried blood from his face. But his fears came back. He could go the wrong way, and forever be lost in the cave... to die. 

"Which way…which way!" Mike wailed again. The burning and the blackness were the same…as if that made a difference. The flies all the more continued to irritate him to insanity too. 

Slowly…steadily, a spark of solace grew from deep within. It was like before, that feeling of love and security. Mike even sensed a glowing from behind his closed eyelids. A blue hue…_Splinter_. It was Splinter in spirit. He was here with him! Mike sensed others too. The turtle opened his eyes to look full upon a white glow before him.

Mike gasped in awe. He couldn't speak now, let alone yell. Yet, this beautiful form gave him a sense of peace. Mike's eyes stayed fixed on her bluish-white face, her comforting eyes. _It's…a ghost…_

She reached out and touched his bloody, ragged shoulder with a tender hand. Her forehead wrinkled with concern. A finger lightly traced the ragged holes in the left corner of Mike's plastron. 

__

N-no…she's right- she's…angelic. Mike sat back away from the wall. He allowed more tears to stream from his irritated eyes. Her loving touch gave him a sense of trust…of security. 

The angel raised her other hand and held his face. Mike could feel her caresses, even though she was a spirit. They soothed the burning sensations, his mental angst. She smiled and came in close to hug him. It seemed the spirit became one with Mike. 

FORWARD TO CHAPTER FOURTEEN  
BACK TO CHAPTER TWELVE   
BACK TO CONTENTS


	14. HI NO DE - 14

HI NO DE - Chapter 14 ****

Juu-shi...

The confusion they felt for a few minutes now only belonged to Raphael. Something happened… a feeling of comfort from an unknown, almost reverend source. He opened his eyes to look at Leo's. His expression held a forlorn look as well, but it was soon washed over some acceptance. Leo always had been the one to undestand the mental elements. This time he even looked a bit perplexed. Raphael gazed down at their footprints in the muddy snow, becoming more aware of Don's sobs. He turned to face Ryutaro in need of proof. That kid had more up his sleeve than he ever imagined.

Don wavered in his step, catching Leo's attention. Leo brought his hands up to steady his plaintive brother. He wasn't sure what the issue was, but decided most of it could be sympathy pains for Mike. 

Ryutaro remained silent, his face calm, but his eyes locked on Raph's. That transmitted an unspoken language to stand off. He waited for a few seconds while the turtle, in the midst of his confusion, sorted out his thoughts… until Raph looked to be more rational. Ryutaro turned his eyes down to the dead branch he dropped earlier, and bent down to gather it up. 

"Wha… c-can you also?" Raph started in a small, broken voice. 

Ryutaro stood up, cocking his head with some misunderstanding.

"Meditate… can you?" Raph clarified himself more, dispute his weak voice. "Did you do that?"

"Do what?" 

"The… the--that strange presence." Raph looked him in the eye, but felt uncomfortable with that. He looked away to check on Don and Leo instead. Don sat in the snow now, with Leo kneeling in front, softly comforting him.

Ryutaro shook his head no, also glancing in their direction. "But I also meditate… I don't call it that."

Raph turned his gaze back on Ryuu, and crossed his arms. "Pray? Aww, no… you're Christian?" 

"Who said they are all perfect and innocent?" he sensed his attitude. 

Raph snorted and turned away. He studied the rider they held hostage. The man lay still, but he noticed the eyes blink once. 

Ryutaro furrowed his brow from this turtle's overall reaction, but still pursued the conversation. He also felt a little more trust building between them. "She was my mother…"

Raph looked over his shoulder, then fixed his gaze back on the rider. That guy was fully awake now, he was just hiding it. "That… feeling was?"

Ryutaro walked over next to him. "Yeah." 

They exchanged glances.

"And being a horse whisperer has nothing to do with my telepathy." Ryutaro had to add his last thoughts.

Raph looked at him and blinked, like he could care less about that fact. "We gotta get goin', Christian Horse Whisperah…" he nodded toward the bound rider. 

The turtle knelt down to grab the front of the man's coat and lifted him up. He stared hard into the man's alarmed eyes. "_Where_… are they?" Raph hissed.

The man remained silent, only keeping fearful eye contact with the demon's dark ones.

"Where?" Raph socked the guy in the face, when another hand grabbed his arm. He turned on his foot to glare at Ryutaro. 

"Beating him up," Ryutaro started out strong, only to end with a whisper, "is _not_ gonna get it out of him any faster." 

The turtle dropped the guy to the ground and stood up to the kid.

"_What_? He's a _threat_!" Raph pointed down to the rider, his voice barely an angry whisper. "Can't just invite 'em to tea and ask if he'd like to talk! Not with these guys--they'll _hurt_ us whenever they can!"

"True…" Ryutaro kept his calm, taking one step back from Raph. He looked at the man on the ground behind the sulking turtle. "But what he really is now, is a tied up man in lots of pain. Confused… _harmless_." 

"Until he gets his senses back--"

Leo silently stepped between the two, "Excuse me, Ryan… Raph, _shut up_!" He left them to kneel down to the man. His eyes were shut again. Leo noticed them quiver when he rested a hand on his shoulder. After drawing in a breath, the turtle spoke in his best Japanese. "English_, hana-simasu ka_?" 

Forming dark slits, the man's eyes opened with what seemed like astonishment. Surprise that a creature like this could also speak his tongue. He slowly shook his head no. 

Leo glanced over his shoulder to the two and Don, with an _I thought so_ look. Raph just scowled in return. Ignoring that, he settled his expectations on Ryutaro. "Can you speak Japanese with him?"

"_Zitsu wa, chotto wakaru, kedo…_" a slight smile came across Ryutaro's lips. "Yeah… I can." 

"Ask him how to get to where they run their operations. Where they took the stallion and Mike." Leo stood up.

"I also wondered... I could switch his coat and such, and take that mare, and go in his place."

"Yeah. That'll work too. We'll follow up, then." Leo nodded, turning to his brothers. "C'mon Raph… gotta get that mare ready." 

Don regained his composure, but his psychological grief pained him enough to still make Leo wary of him. He decided to stay with Ryutaro, just in case that guy goes ballistic on him. That, and to avoid any further babying from Leo and Raph. He leaned against a tree and watched as the kid knelt down. It quietly amazed Don how gentle in tone and action he was to that man, their enemy. Reminded him of those brave negotiators for hostage situations.

Ryutaro briefly looked in Don's direction. _This one isn't all bad… if he were a trained killer…a true ninja, we wouldn't have survived the attack._

"Leo, this whole thing was arranged!" Raph strained his voice as he pointed to the kid. "Ryuu knew… he was goin' ta give 'em Danza!" 

Leo stepped away from the tall mare's head. "I knew there was something up, that he seemed so sure about what was going on. But… does he really know them?"

Raph held his hard gaze.

"Give him a chance." Leo laid a hand on Raph's shoulder, and leaned in close. "The fact Ryan knows something about them is helping us for the better. And he knows what he did was wrong… I think he did this so the family wouldn't get anymore hurt."

"He got us involved… knew it was for him, not us."

Leo looked at him, trying to figure out what Raph was whispering. "Yeah… that note was confusing. But this actually was better, safety in numbers. We'll get Mike back…" Leo turned away from Raph.

"[Please tell me, where is… barn? Where you keep the horses?]" He faced the man as he spoke in stilted Japanese. The rider still held an apprehensive look on his face, one that meant he wasn't going to say anything.

"[If you tell, we will not leave you. Here, cold and hungry you will be.]"

The irritated rider closed his eyes, and inhaled a long breath. The cold ground and melting snow numbed his left side. The tongue this kid spoke still was far from perfect to his ears.

Ryutaro pursued. He thought he recognized this face from a time before. "[Please.. please tell me where the big horses are. Please. I made deal, now… I want something from you.]"

Even though his hands were bound behind him and feet tied, the man rolled all the way over on his back and sat up. More silence as he studied the young face of this kid. His coat's hood that sat halfway on his head ruffled up his short, black hair, thus making him look all the less threatening. 

Ryutaro knew better, however. He rose to his feet and stepped back.

"[Why must I tell you?]" His voice came deep and demanding.

Ryutaro looked to the ground, "[To save their brother… that's all. I understand your honor to barn, but…]" 

The rider squinted his eyes as he looked over to the accompanying turtle. "_Anoo_," he started out in a soft mocking tone, "[Why don't you just follow our tracks in the snow?]"

"Of course." Don whispered. He could recognize Japanese enough to follow what they were saying. The turtle pushed off from the tree, all the more eager to get started.

"_Hai…_" Ryutaro looked once to Don, then back to the rider. "[You will come with us.]" 

A loud rumble from an engine awakened his consciousness. Mike pushed away from the wall with a start, when something creaked. All he could see now were stars sparkling through the dark, but the lighter shade of a square caught his attention. Then something rolled into that square. It looked to be a manure spreader backed in with a tractor. More noises now. Clanking and whirring as the spreader started to push out its contents. 

The turtle's breathing grew shallow as the realization hit him.

__

There's the way out!

He started to feel cool waves of fresh air seep in, and thus did his best to crawl toward the dim square of light. A shower of pungent sawdust and manure rained down on him as he approached the spreader. Mike paused to see how close to the door he was. 

The tractor driver had kicked back in the seat, to eat and drink something. He seemed totally unaware of anything more. Mike saw that it was dark enough outside the doors. He had a chance yet. Gathering up the rest of his strength, the turtle stuck close to wall and crawled out on hands and knees through the door. 

Into the fresh cool air! It hit him like when he had plunged into that cool lake on hot summer days at Casey's farm. His eyes and nostrils still stung like something fierce though. Totally exhausted, and convinced he was safe in the darkness at the end of the aisle, Mike collapsed on the gritty floor. The roar of the tractor leaving was the last he heard before going into another deep sleep.

The three turtles stood back, hiding in the brush, as Ryutaro rode to a crevice in the side of the hill. They had bound the rider to a tree some distance back, as well as tied their mounts there. Ryutaro told them he'll go in first, opening the way for them. They decided they'd look for Mike, while Ryutaro located his horses.

Leo studied the hillside with his sharp eyes. They got something about where a creek flowed from the man. After further discussion, Ryutaro assumed he meant looking for the mouth of a cave. Again, the turtle's eyes settled on the big crack in the earth, being as tall as a one story house but only wide enough for two people on horseback to enter. From the cave, flowed a creek that meandered further down the way to join with the river. A passerby wouldn't even know that this entrance lead to something top secret. 

The mare splashed through the creek at a steady walk. Ryutaro had managed to obtain a key from the rider… a brush of luck actually. He found it in one of the pockets of the rider's coat, after he got him to switch coats. Within the crevice, Ryutaro halted the mare and jumped down into the shallow water. The stream headed off to the left in a smaller cavern, while dry ground banked out of the wall to the right. Ryutaro led the horse further in. 

Waiting for his eyes to adjust, he stared into the dimness until vertical bars from floor to ceiling appeared before him. They looked to be rusty, old steel bars spaced a few inches apart. Beyond these bars, he saw a concrete wall with an overhead door a few yards back. The door had a big exhaust fan over it too. Dim light fixtures shone from each side of the door. Ryutaro started to reach out and touch the bars in thought.

"_Wait_… I smell something… coming from it." Don whispered from behind.

Ryutaro jumped back in alarm from the turtle's sudden presence. He looked over to where the voice came from, now mystified. Only the trickling of the underground stream reached his ears.

Don crept away from the cave wall more, slowly, paying close attention to something. "And there's a hum… an electrical surge." He stopped before the bars, looking them over from top to bottom, side to side for the source. 

"So it's got electricity flowing through it?" Ryutaro looked at the barrier in a new light. 

"Thought I warn, before it shocked you." Don slipped back into the shadows again.

"Hmm… probably to keep out wild animals too…" Ryutaro approached a door, like the sort in a jail cell, but stall-door sized for horses. It had a peculiar looking lock, he noticed. Perhaps it was designed to trip the electrical flow when unlocked. A hunch he had to take... and probably explained why the key bases had heavy rubber grips on them. Ryutaro went through a couple keys, until he found the one that worked. After a click and a soft buzz as the barrier powered down, the door could be slid open.

He led the horse through, and left the door open for the others. Even though he couldn't see or hear them, he knew those turtles were behind him somewhere. An almost silent sound of the door locking told him they were in. Ryutaro looked over the next door for anything that might give them away. Alarms, security cameras, laser beams, anything suspicious… but he didn't see none. It felt strange to him there was nothing like that here. _Probably have guards on the other side. _

Ryutaro located a pull chain for the door to one side. Lightly touching it first, to make sure it wasn't electrified or rigged, he pulled down on it to raise the door. He held the mare back and peered around the edge. No one was to be seen right away, just the continuation of a well-lit cave tunnel.

"Looks clear, go on." Another whisper from behind urged him.

The kid tugged at the hood on his head, and boldly led the mare into the isle-like tunnel. Warm, humid waves of air came around him as he ventured further. To the right, he saw what looked like dug out tunnels, similar to mining shafts in appearance. The nicker of a jaded horse echoed from one of them. 

Someone in black, insulated overalls walked from the first one. He noticed the short rider with the mare, and gave a worried looked. "[What happened? Where are the others?]" The taller man asked in Japanese. He looked back to notice the overhead door still open.

"Uhh--_anoo_, [they are coming. We had trouble.]" Ryutaro kept on walking, wishing to lead this guy away so the turtles could get in. He noticed an area ahead of him that resembled an arena. Hoping for the better, he turned down the second tunnel. The man followed him, asking more that he couldn't fully understand. At least the man took him for one of them. 

The three soundlessly ran into the first tunnel. On both sides, stalls lined the length of the tunnel. At the end of it, however, darkness loomed… as if it led on to something more, like another cavern. They set their sights on that, feeling exposed in the lighted aisle way. Deep down, Leo hoped they wouldn't have any further confrontations. He could feel that Mike was near, somewhere. 

In the dark, hung a thick, pungent odor as well. Don gasped, holding a hand over his beak. He started to wonder if this place was even ventilated. Raph cussed under his breath about what could be causing it. They all felt suspicious if they came to a dead-end. A few long seconds passed before their eyes adjusted to the darkness again. 

Don felt along the wall until he came to the wooden door, where the smell was stronger. "Manure… probably where they dump it." He whispered, when a wave of panic came over him. His eyes focused on Mike lying by the wall in front of him. "Leo…"

"Let's… wait here and--" Leo froze in his tracts, also recognizing what Don saw.

"_Shit_!" Raph stumbled over to Mike, falling onto his hands and knees to check his condition. Leo joined him at the same time, grabbing Mike's wrist. He felt a pulse.

"Damn, not breathing! No!" Raph pulled his own coat off to keep his little brother warm with it. "What's this shit all over him?!"

Leo curled his lip in disgust upon further inspection. He gently cradled Mike's head and rolled him over on his back. He remained unconscious, his body limp, his face placid… sullen, like hibernation gone wrong. Blood looked to be everywhere, and also noticed some maggots in the wound on Mike's shoulder. 

Don remained by the door, silent and taken aback.

"What the hell did they do…?" Raph continued.

Leo looked at him, then at Mike with a shudder. Mike needed oxygen. Leo carefully tilted his head back and started respiratory breathing. After two breaths, Leo looked up to his brothers. "He's gonna need a blood transfusion…" 

"How?" Raph stopped checking over for wounds, and waited for Leo to continue after another couple breaths. 

Leo came back up again, and quickly spilled out his words. "This place must have medical stuff for the horses. Find a lab, and look for IV tubes and needles 

Raph looked back down the lit aisle as Leo breathed. "Gimme the gun."

"No. Just _go_, okay."

With a groan, Raph stood up. Though, it might be better Leo kept it, to protect himself and Mike from any attackers while he was gone. In a breath's moment, he darted back down the aisle to pursue his mission.

Don hoped Raph could get the supplies, and make it back in one piece. He decided to keep watch on the aisle way, to be ready for intruders.

Raph spied someone coming around the corner into the tunnel. He grabbed him from behind and stepped back through the door of an empty, dark stall. "Look, you can't--" the turtle struggled to hold his captive still. The guy's small frame made it hard for him to fight Raph's size.

"No! _Kaiho suru!_" 

Raph instinctively loosened his grip upon hearing his captive's feminine voice. _Damn, he's a she!_

"_Minikui no baka! Kaiho suru…_" she gasped, still pushing against the turtle's green arms.

__

Great. Another one of them "Japanese only" types…and she better not had just called me an ugly fool. He had no choice but to keep her his hostage as to not stir up alarm through the place. "Listen, will ya? I _need_ help." He muttered.

"No!"

Raph turned her around to make eye contact with this difficult woman, even if she got freaked from his appearance. "The lab, where is it? _Doko desu ka_? I have to get--" 

She shook her head, her eyes hidden under the bill of her ball cap. Her short hair and unrefined features made it easy for him to mistaken her.

Raph groaned, and strained his voice to be more discernible. "The lab, medical supplies… the lab, _doko desu ka?_ Tell me, um… _hana-simasu, onegai-simasu. _" 

She held a hard stare past his eyes. "_Sore-kara, _let go." 

"Helping me then? _Watasi wa, daizyobu desu…_I promise_._" Raph still held her arms, and hoping that she did understand English to some extent.

The woman still looked like she wasn't going to give in, but her words said something else. "_Ima wa,_ let go! I help…" She started to struggle once more.

Raph loosened his grip, and released one of her arms to see what she would do. She didn't try to run away yet. "Okay… just show me, the lab, wher-- lab_ ga, doko desu ka_?" He asked her again.

The girl looked at him strangely.

"The lab… aagh. Medical stuff! Needles? _First aid_?" Raph hoped she understand those references better. "Like, hospital stuff. _Byooin!_ My brother's dying!"

"_Byooin_?" 

"Yeah, _byooin_, hospital stuff, for horses. _Doko desu ka_?" The turtle could feel his patience get short. If she wasn't going to come up with an answer, he'd soon as lock her up in this stall and look for it the hard way. 

The girl made a face, then pointed in the direction that went further into the cave. "There."

"Show me," Raph stepped from the stall, still hanging onto her arm. 

Michaelangelo gazed at the forest, with it's various pines and maple trees. In front of him, he saw the neck and ears of a gray horse that he rode. They paused to study the land's features. Everything shone a soft white with snow. All but a few trails if dirty tracks. He looked over to his right. The tracks led to a mouth of a cave in the hill. The sound of a babbling creek reached his ears.

__

Are we going there?

A gentle airy voice of a male touched Michaelangelo's thoughts. He motioned the gray to head in that direction.

__

Yeah… _I'm not sure why though…_

That is where the others are. Now Splinter's voice, slightly thick with his Japanese accent, responded like an echo. It came like a blessing to Michaelangelo. 

He lifted his eyes, hoping to also see his Master. But he saw nothing more, other than the gray gelding he rode and snowy trees. 

__

Splinter... what--

The voice trailed some distance behind him murmuring something. The turtle looked over his shoulder, then back around to stare at the cave entrance. He still felt like he was missing something… something really important. An increasing wariness enveloped him. He lifted up his hands, which clutched a set of roughly braided leather reins, but he couldn't feel them. The turtle also sat bareback on the horse's back, with no clothes on. His legs did not feel any warmth from the horse's body like he would expect. Nor could he smell anything blowing in the wind, or feel its cold bite against his skin. 

Growing concerned, Michaelangelo looked into the forest. _What happened, Master? Am I…_

The voice floated around his head now. _You are in a spiritual plane..._

His master's voice drifted off like he held something back. _But, why can't I see you?_ A long silence came before a reply.

__

It is different from the Astral Plane.

Mike looked down at his hands holding the reins. Further understanding set in. 

Then softly, almost soothingly, the voice whispered by his ear. _You can still help them. They need you._

I see… Michaelangelo's graven face looked back toward the dark crack in the hillside. _Can you stay with me?_

In a blink, he and the gelding were inside, and standing by a stall. The front was covered with a thick, blanket-like material. Three Japanese people stood by the doorway. Michaelangelo slid off the back of the gray and approached. 

__

What... why am I here?

A horse is giving birth, Splinter's voice echoed.

He suddenly recognized the oldest man standing there. The shaven head and gruff voice… _Tatsu_. A blurred memory from when he first was brought here flashed in his memory. Michaelangelo took a step back in shock. He became aware that it was the men's thoughts he heard echoing in his head, many of which in a language he didn't understand. Then a couple groans came from the stall. 

A mare was having a special baby in there. More wonder came over Michaelangelo, and he stepped up to peer through a separation in the blanket covering the front of the stall. A moment later, he found himself kneeling in straw by the white mare's head. Another person stood inside to monitor the mare's progress. His title stood out in Michaelangelo's mind as Dr. Itoda.

The dark colored baby came out; all but it's hind feet. The big mare, growing restless with the process, struggled back onto her feet. Michaelangelo stepped back, even though she couldn't do any harm running into his spiritual form. He watched as her baby slid out the rest of the way and landed in the straw. It struggled slightly, disoriented of what had just happened to itself. A thin layer of membrane still clung to the baby's head and nostrils. 

Concerned of this, Itoda carefully knelt down to the foal to tear it away. The foal continued to look around, seemingly alert but unsure of its surroundings. His mother remained restless, walking over to it just for a moment to give a welcoming nicker. But her contractions continued to push her placenta out, thus distracting her with more pain. Itoda left the stall, to retrieve the things needed to check and treat the foal while she was distracted. 

"No." Leonardo gasped in between breaths, repeating the denial later when he stopped to get a better feel of Mike's pulse. If he could find the pulse. "No, Mike! Don't…" a small cry of despair slipped out. Leo looked over to Don, then down to Mike's body. _No pulse_. He could try giving CPR to Mike, but their shells don't give like a human ribcage does. _No heartbeat…colder, no._

"What… he didn't…?" Don whispered. He could see Leo starting to panic.

Leo gave Mike two more breaths before replying. "His heart stopped."

Don twisted his face. He knelt down to the other side and reached out to lay a hand on Mike's cheek. "Mikey… you're not… not yet," _What I do for some shocker panels or something…_ Don looked over to Leo in hopes he had an idea. At least Raph didn't get this bad that time when he got beat up. 

"Take my wrist." Leo held out his hand.

Don did so, without understanding why.

"Push your fingers in where the pressure point is on the inside. Then do the same to Mike's wrist."

"Accupressure?" Don sounded dubious, but did as Leo instructed. _How's that gonna help in this situation…? It's not gonna work…_

"It's something…" Leo went down to breathe two breaths into Mike. "This is an energy chain. I'm _hoping_ our life energy will give his heart more energy. Hoping…"

Don turned his eyes away from Leo to look over Mike's body. He let his left arm gripping Leo's wrist rest across Mike's plastron. His throat tightened with regret as he leaned near his brother's head. "Mikey, Mike… don't give up. I know you can hear us… don't--" his voice wavered as he tried to hold back his anguish.

Leo kept going through his motions. He wasn't going to give up yet… he didn't want to let Mike down any further. 

Michaelangelo approached the little one, and knelt down in front of it. The foal's hair looked dark and wet from the amniotic fluid. _Hi, baby horsey, welcome to the world. Well... welcome to life. Hell only knows what they want to do with you when you get older._ He glanced over to those peering in through the bars at the foal. The turtle stopped for a moment, realizing what his own words meant for him as well.

__

But why am I here, with you…?

The foal seemed to look at him for a time now. Long enough for the turtle to realize the baby knew he was there. Michaelangelo reached out to 'touch' the wet hair on the baby's neck. It wasn't that of sensual touch, but an acknowledgement of meeting energy shields. Coming in contact with the colt's embodied spirit… a tingling union of energy. The turtle grinned nonetheless when it rooted its nose against his hand. He then tried to run a hand across the colt's face; but when he struggled to get up, he knocked Mike into the straw. 

__

This is cool! He knows I'm here… Michaelangelo smiled as he told Splinter. The turtle stroked the colt one last time, before the doctor began the check.

A scattering of hooves coming from outside the stall caught Michaelangelo's attention. The following shriek from a stallion sounded awful familiar. Tatsu promptly barked orders to a couple of the people who were with them. They pursued after to alert the guards.

The turtle stood up in alarm. _What's going on now?_

Confusion.

Splinter…? Mike felt something deadly wrong in that tone.

Another voice, be it mental or real, also echoed in Michaelangelo's head. Shouting words, thoughts of despair, angry discord. He now stood out the main tunnel, watching a turtle in a ragged jersey and blue jeans square up against Tatsu. 

__

Raphael… no!

Michaelangelo turned in search of Ryutaro. A message rang in his head. He just knew that Raph needed help. His brother couldn't face that man alone. He came up to Ryutaro fighting off two men, obviously not the ninja type - much to Michaelangelo's surprise. He looked the other way, to see guards join Tatsu. _But they are ninja…_

The turtle moved in time with Ryutaro, watching his back, long enough for Mike to grab his subconscious. _Go back, gotta go back... Raph's in trouble. _He could sense that Ryutaro understood somehow. After the two men gave up and remained down, the kid stuck Danza in an empty stall in the first tunnel and ran back

Michaelangelo was by Raph's side in a flash. Gave a new meaning to shadow boxing… giving his brother an added guidance to avoid the blows. But his adversaries became all the more overwhelming. One of the guards caught Raph's leg from his kick, and returned a kick to his standing leg before he could react. That move sent a renewed pain through that leg he twisted from falling off Trinity. 

Raph remained in a heap on the floor while he caught his breath, and tried to pull together more of his fighting spirit. Michaelangelo knelt down to Raph, then glanced up at Tatsu… he could make out one of his thoughts as he paused. That man had intentions of killing Raph. 

__

Hurry Ryutaro! He watched Tatsu take a gun from one of the guards.

Michaelangelo laid his arm across Raph's back, in wanting to comfort his brother though this desperate moment. History couldn't repeat itself now. _You gotta keep moving, bro…he wants you dead. _

The both of them looked up as Tatsu aimed. The turtle rolled to one side, barely avoiding the fire falling around his covered head.

Then a clang sounded. Ryutaro had grabbed a pitchfork and intervened Tatsu's further attempts by catching the gun in his pitchfork.

__

C'mon Mikey, please… I don't know what else to do… I can't… can't let you die. You can't die! Live.. please… live! Tears now rolled down his beak as Leo knelt over Mike. Tears of guilt mixed with grief. Salty water that dripped on his brothers pale face as he rhythmically breathed. 

Don kept on looking down the aisles every few seconds in hopes of seeing Raph and not anyone else. He heard fighting, and thought he saw Ryutaro. No doubt they were stirring up the place now. Don tried to not give in to it, but he started believing Mike wasn't going to come back. He's been without blood flow for a long time now. Fighting through another bout of sobs, he gently rested his head on Mike's plastron and squeezed both Leo's and Mike's wrists. One warm and full of life, the other cold and… 

__

wait, wait…is that… a pulse? 

"I think… I feel a pulse." Don whispered to Leo.

He reached around with his free hand to feel for it under Mike's jaw. "It... is." Leo gasped. But it felt weak though. After a couple more breaths, he heard an audible wail escape from Mike's throat when he finally began to breathe on his own.

"M-mikey… just, hang on." Don knelt over to his face again. He still held onto their wrists, as if letting go would make him fade away again. 

Mike's eyes squinted tight, moaning in pain all the more. Everything felt horrible. A strange feeling of heaviness and numbness overcame his body, soon accompanied with pins and needles all over. Like when an arm or a foot fell asleep, except this was both arms and legs as blood slowly restored circulation.

"I know it hurts… we're here now." Leo stroked Mike's forehead tenderly.

He became aware of a firm grip on his wrist. Comforting caresses on his forehead, soothing words. Then the terrible stomach ache and throbbing pains in his head and shoulder. Tears of suffering came to his eyes. He cried out softly as more fog masked his consciousness again.

Leo winced, seeing Mike grow limp again. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Mikey, I wish I can do something about it… please. Come on… stay with us." 

"Keep breathing…" Don whispered, then sat up to look down the aisle. 

__

Raph…

[ON TO CHAPTER FIFTEEN][1]

[BACK TO CHAPTER THIRTEEN ][2][  
BACK TO CONTENTS][3]

   [1]: tmet15.html
   [2]: tmet13.html
   [3]: TMET.html



	15. HI NO DE - 15

HI NO DE - Chapter 15 ****

Juu-go...

Even though Ryutaro managed to disarm the gun, the bald man still considered himself armed. He withdrew a sword from under his cloak to take him on. It became clear Tatsu was a strong opponent for the kid. Ryuu did all he could to barely block the lethal strokes with his pitchfork. The nicks on Ryutaro's arms showed how close the furious ninja came, however. Tired, Ryuu knew Tatsu could not kill him. The sword Tatsu used was his own, and the spirits in this sword no longer allowed it to kill its owner.

Raph climbed up against a wall, an eye kept on the guards as he did. As long as Ryutaro kept Tatsu busy, his chance for escape looked better. He wanted to get out of there to reach the others, even if he could barely walk on his injured leg. 

As soon as Raph started his retreat, laser fire surrounded him. He immediately pressed up against the stall wall, fortunate enough to receive only nicks that time. The guard stopped random fire a moment to aim at the turtle's head. Realizing feelings of being trapped, Raph desperately looked down to the darkness at the end of the isle. What were they waiting for?

The other guard thrust his blaster between Ryuu's shoulder blades. Tatsu held off his advances for a moment, only to tighten his fingers around the hilt of the sword. 

Ryuu could sense the urgency of this danger, instantly crouched down to feel the fire go by his ear. Tatsu immediately lunged after him, but he was lucky to block it before sweeping a high kick at the guard behind. A shower of laser fire danced around as the guard tried to shoot him. Ryuu rolled out of the way from Tatsu's further advance, as the infuriated guard stumbled after the nimble kid. 

Ryuu gritted his teeth and launched a more effective spin kick to knock the gun from the guard's hands. More laser fire ricocheted when the gun hit the dirt floor. The chaos was just enough for Tatsu get in a blow to Ryuu's ribs. The kid fell into the guard, bringing both of them down to the ground.

Raph felt relieved his head was the target that time. But now that the guard knew he could duck his head, there may not be a next time.

Laser fire fell around him, and through him. Raph could only cower by the wall, bearing the burning sensations going through his shell. He had no where to go - a dead duck. Then it dawned on him. 

__

The stall! Go in the stall, stupid!

The firing stopped, only to be followed by a gasp coming from the guard. Just as Raph pushed aside the horse he put between himself and the wall, he saw Leo. From the sound of it, Leo immobilized the man in some way so he could be attacked. 

__

You and your shiruken, Leo…

Raph took in a sigh of relief before leaving the stall.

Previous scenes from the pass days entered Ryutaro's mind. Raph's accusing words about this man, his talks with Don, even echoes of Mike's pleas - _I promised myself to help them through this._

Ryuu pushed himself from the struggling guard to face the bald man. True, Ryutaro was part Japanese, but he felt more pride for his American and Korean roots. What he had learned of Japanese history before sickened him. He could see the pure fury fueling Tatsu's motives now. Flame seemed to flicker in the man's eyes as his face grimaced. The pure evil of that race. 

Tatsu's anger ran deep for something that would never smother out. Anger evident when studying Ryuu and the Turtle tackling with the guard nearby. Facial muscles tensing, as his vengeance for these Turtles resurfaced. That thirst for revenge his previous Master knew so well.

Ryuu held his ground, blocking Tatsu's fierce punches and dodging many of the fatal kicks. It seemed now the ninja realized the sword did him no good. He only used it for threats and blocks,

__

Get me through to him… I must… Ryuu focused on the sword in his enemy's hand.

Not all fights just consist of physical force from the body. Not always. Somehow, something happened in the sword's time, which gave it this magical gift. It also had a way of knowing about the souls of those who touch it. Ryuu also knew that.

Then slowly, a shimmering dragon spirit enveloped Ryuu, so that it looked like he turned into a dragon of the Orient. However, this dragon did not look like the long snake-like types. Simply put, he looked like a dragon turtle, as like those honored in ancient Korean history. This spiritual beast stood fairly upright, like a T-rex, and he also wore a breastplate that resembled a turtle shell on his chest, back, and the tops of his shoulders. His snout was long, and ended with a hooked beak. Small frilled ear lopes accented the upper part of the dragon's head. The skin shone a metallic aqua blue, while the resemblance of a shell shimmered as bronze and green. His silver eyes looked into Tatsu's, seeking out the man's soul the sword tasted. 

Don watched with a wary eye as his shaken brother approached them. Raph's jersey had splotches of blood coming through from the laser wounds. Over all, he just didn't look very good. 

Raph fell in a heap by Mike's side. His concerns were more on getting out of there than himself.

"Are you okay?" Don set the blaster down.

"No," Raph breathed heavily, looking up. "Is he breathing?" 

Don nodded yes, glancing once to check the action.

Leo had laid Mike on his side, so the airway stayed clear while they switched off. Raph carefully rolled Mike into his arms and cradled his head. He adjusted the trench coat so it covered Mike better.

"He came to for a few seconds, but--" Don started to explain.

"His neck okay?" 

"Think so…"

Raph rolled Mike over and brought a limp arm around his neck. He struggled a little to gather his brother in his arms as to pick him up. "Good, cause we outta 'ere."

Don got up to offer Raph some help. "You're able to carry him?"

"Don't think you can, an' it'll be slow t'gether." Raph grunted and rose to his feet. He gritted in pain with the extra weight on his ankle. _But pain is no stranger to me, and now's not the time to be weak, dammit. _"Go cover for me."

__

Why do you do this? The dragon's voice boomed telepathically in Tatsu's head.

Tatsu remained silent, only to return his fierce glare. He raised the sword to attack.

__

Please… must we always fight? 

The dragon narrowed his burly eye ridges and studied the old samurai sword. _Ah…here it is. Thank you for finding my sword, and returning it to me. _The dragon held out his small clawed hand. 

Tatsu continued to stand in awe of the dragon, as the handle of the sword in his hand grew hot. The blade also began to flare with blue electricity that resembled a dragon's head and snake-like neck. Pain shot up Tatsu's arm from the dragon fire that enveloped his hand. Just as he released the sword, it seemed to float down to the dragon's grip. 

The tall dragon studied Tatsu's awestruck eyes. The man almost knelt down in respect of this spirit. "[The Dragon Sword…]" he whispered in Japanese.

The dragon laughed lightly, the sound bubbling in the air like an echo. _Not quite, my friend. The Dragon Sword is something of legend, belonging only to the Gods. I am too earthly... too mortal to possess such an honorable weapon of the Prince of Light. _

This is merely a sword blessed with spirits from its ancestors. One reason why it is frowned upon to steal the sword of a defeated samurai... to forbid the spirits of others from their peace, for your own glory and honor. 

Leo found the sudden change of events rather bizarre. First Ryuu morphed into a dragon and now this different man came out from nowhere to help him contain the guard. The stranger wore dark colored work clothes like the others there, but he also wore a black spandex hood over his head. Then it dawned on Leo...

"Nobody…? I can't believe this!"

"You better, kid." He snapped the cuffs tight around the guard's hands. "We have a serious situation on our hands." The tall man straightened up, to study the situation with the dragon and Tatsu. "But this one we'll leave well enough alone. It's the other one I'm more worried about." Nobody gestured Leo to follow after him as he headed back, then down the second isle. 

"So the cops are in on this after all?" 

"Just myself… and the FBI." 

"This is the situation now with our friend, Dr. Itoda. The bastard has wired himself up to a biological bomb. If we try to detonate this thing, it'll go off. If we try to interfere with him in any way, it'll go off. Itoda demands that we just leave him and his lab as is. We can reclaim all of "our" horses and leave, just as long as he isn't arrested." Nobody explained, pausing by the other men he knocked out and handcuffed.

"But you're not going to let him do that, right?" 

"Right. This man is far too dangerous to let alone, Leo. He's not only wanted by the FBI, but also by the black market in Japan. He's an environmental hazard! But, he hasn't committed any trackable crimes, so that's why he's gotten this far." He pulled out some rope. "Here, help me bind these men up some more so they don't walk off."

Leo took some of the rope and knelt by the other rider. "So, what _is_ he doing with these horses, and Tatsu?" 

"Reasons why the hefty guy paired up with him is not clear. I guess it was a pairing of brain with brawn to gain more power for a take-over. I also heard of plans in the making for satellite control and use of biological warfare." Nobody walked over to another guy a couple yards away.

"The horses were part of an experiment Itoda wanted to perform. Tatsu worked more on the development of hi-tech weapons, like the laser guns. But Itoda's attempts were nonetheless phenomenal. He wanted to make a horse as big as a Clydesdale, but still as fast and agile as a cheetah. He also wanted the animal to have the skeletal design to withstand long rides, and a hide tough enough to repel most projectiles. The superior war horse. From my understanding, one of the refined hybrids of these super horses was born not too long ago." Nobody pointed to a stall near them.

Leo looked at him with a raised eyebrow, then glanced at the covered stall. 

Tatsu looked at the spirit, his rage wavering for a moment. Something about the dragon seemed to pull at his conscious. "[I was heir to Oroku Saki. After those_ creatures_ killed him, vengeance was mine to take. But I refused it... I wanted to do more. I have waited many years for a chance, to redeem my honor for the Foot Clan… for Japan… in this light of the humiliation all of you have caused me!]"

Moving slowly forward, the dragon held out the sword as it split into two individual weapons. Then he offered one of the glowing swords to Tatsu.

__

Then, as a true warrior, I give you that chance.

The dragon swiftly morphed into an image that resembled Leonardo. The first time he and the turtle crossed swords back at the farm, he felt as though his sword somehow tapped into Leo's history. It also was likely Mike and Leo handled it when they had separated by the river. All the same, the sword also knew of Leo's past with Shredder and this man.

Tatsu bowed slightly, a show of respect that hid the contempt he kept bottled up inside. "_Hajime_!" He stared fiercely into the dark eyes of the all too familiar turtle with the blue mask, before springing to life.

But this spar felt different from the one before. Energy surged through both of them, making the moves seem like something seen only in a video game. They had their hits and their misses, but the fight wasn't going to end quickly. 

__

Remember that your body is only part of it. Let your spirit be free, you imagination be unbridled! The dragon's voice echoed in Tatsu's mind as he bore down on the turtle demon.

Don stopped from a run before he reached the end of the tunnel. He thought he saw Leo leave. Yet, his brother was back dueling with Tatsu, like nothing he ever saw before. He looked back to Raph, wondering if they should get involved.

"Shoot Tatsu, dammit." Raph whispered bitterly.

Don twisted his face. _That's easier said than done, Raph, considering the way those two waltz around. Gotta do something though,_ he sighed. Just as he rose the blaster to aim, Don saw Leo jump up and deliver a kick strong enough to knock Tatsu onto his back. 

Battered and bloodied, the ninja master rose to one knee, holding his head low as he struggled to breathe. Leo's spirit laid his sword across the back of his fallen opponent's neck. "You are beaten, for the body is weak."

"_Hai_…" Tatsu spat blood as he spoke. With a cursory glance, he looked into the eyes of Leo, and then over to the other three. "I fought in… honorable combat. And… I am beaten…"

"Then let the bloodshed end here, _Tatsu-Maki_, " the Leo-spirit spoke with a deep resonance in his voice, "Stop the hatred and leave your vengeance behind you."

With a shaking hand, Tatsu withdrew the sword that was given to him for the combat, holding the point now toward his chest. "[Death before dishonor...]" he whispered in Japanese. Grasping the hilt with both hands, Tatsu drove the sword directly into his heart, then down to the right to disembowel himself. He kneeled over almost immediately, his blood draining out of him in a rush.

Don had turned to leave before he saw much more. _Seppuku… god, that was abhorrent…_

"Shit, about time that retard killed himse--" Raph looked up, to notice Leo was really not Leo. He stumbled a step, almost loosing his grip on Mike.

Ryuu immediately came over to Raph to help steady him. 

"I got 'em, got 'em." Raph gasped as he splayed his feet. "Not Leo? How…? I ca-"

Ryuu still held on to the other side of Mike. "All in the spirit…" he whispered and bought Mike's limp arm back under the coat. "Get going… he's gonna need the aid." He looked into Raph's glassy eyes. _And so do you. Leo's back there, with a cop. He's okay. Go on…_

Nobody gave Leo a look of concern, when he stood up from the last violator.

"Tatsu's dead…" Leo spoke in a graven tone, letting a moment pass before he blinked his eyes like he just woke up. He looked back down the isle, where the riding arena was.

"Looked a little out of it there. You okay?" Nobody also considered the fact the turtle had been through a lot before getting here.

Leo shrugged it off. He started to wonder how long Nobody was going to keep him. He sensed that his brothers need more help. "Got a plan for this?"

Nobody walked toward the riding arena cavern, and stood to one side on the right. "Right around this corner is the lab. That's were Itoda is." He whispered as he gestured toward the lab with his head. "See those three? The doc is the guy in white over to the right. And behind him are his lab assistants."

Leo crept up beside him to peer through the panes of glass. The two assistants were bound together, with their backs to each other. They looked like girls in their early twenties. Both of them seemed very uncomfortable with the situation.

"The lady with the short hair and ball cap is our FBI agent. Itoda was smart to figure her out." 

"So, they're his hostages."

"Yes. And if she makes one wrong move, he'll hit the button. Even worse, the FBI doesn't quite know the extent of this yet. They do, because of the loss of communication. But its funny they aren't here yet. Maybe something happened to her partner. But it would be a good idea, if you all could finish your business and get out of here, before the FBI swamp the place."

"Do they, the FBI, know about us?" Leo rubbed his brow. 

"That depends…" Nobody lowered his voice. "But if I could use your help before you go, we could get this moving along much faster. I don't know how long he will hold out before giving up completely, and let her blow."

"What would you need?" 

"I have a plan to detonate a bomb, that requires some sharp shooting."

The three turtles go to the small secondary cave between the outside electric gate and the inside entrance. A small stream stretched across the opening, but a dry sandy bank rose up to on the right. It would have been pitch black in the small subterranean passage, if not for the dim light that shone in from the main cavern. All the same, it seemed very much like the sewer tunnels back home - dark, wet, and dank. 

Raph leaned back on the rough wall to slide down to the floor with Mike still in his arms. 

"Did you get the blood transfusion supplies?" Don knelt down by Raph.

Still trying to ease himself out from under Mike, he felt Mike's fingers gripping the back of his neck now. 

"Raph… " Mike's voice sounded rough and pained.

His heart throbbed with sympathy for a brief moment as he took Mike's arm down. "Yeah… S'okay, Mikey." Raph whispered, before scooting over more so that Mike's head was resting on his legs. He looked once at the silhouette of Don as he struggled to pull the requested items from his jeans.

Don gripped his hands around them, noticing the warm stickiness of blood on the needle cases and tubing. He took in a breath before finally voicing his concern. "Raph, I don't think you should give him blood… you're bleeding too much." As much as he didn't like needles, Don had no choice.

"I'll give."

Then another concern dawned on him. What if his blood type was not compatible with Mike's? 

"No, I can do it." Raph whispered. "Just-"

"Please, you don't even sound good." Don ran the tubing through his fingers to find the ends. He continued to convince himself it was right doing it his way, despite Raph's grumbling. He took the needles out from the plastic cases, also carefully running his fingers around them to "see" what kind they were. To know how many cc's the syringes could hold. To feel how long the still capped needles were. Nonetheless, his doubts still overcame his actions. These needles were not the kind they needed. He hoped they would get needles designed for intravenous use. As if the fact none of them could have a compatible blood type for Mike wasn't bad enough. If they ever get out of this alive, he had to look into testing their blood.

"Donny. Stop thinking and start doing! We're dyin' here." Raph spoke up.

Don sighed again. "These needles aren't what I had in mind. We needed the kind with the tubes _already_ attached."

"Then cut our wrists and press them together!"

"Raph… you're delirious--" Don heard something splashing in the water. He grabbed up the blaster, aiming it to shoot.

"_Hey_!" Leo instinctively took the blaster and pulled it forward, then out from Don's hands. "It's me."

"Uh… sorry," Don whispered.

Leo crawled up the sandy bank more. "Don't be, we all have reason to be jumpy now." He gave the blaster back to Don.

"The needles, we--"

Leo stopped Don. "We got a worst situation back in the cave right now. Fortunately, Nobody is here to crack the case too. But… we need your help, with a bomb, Donny."

"What? With a _what_? No, no… just because I, I like creating video games with pyrote--" 

"Okay, okay," Leo rested his hands on Don's shoulders. He could sense the stress from this whole operation ate at Don's stamina. "This is almost over. We're almost home, bro. Nobody just wants _someone_ to pose as a sharpshooter."

Hearing Raph cheer him on, Don took a couple of breaths before his next reply. "Shooting at what?"

"Go on down to the lab, toward the back of the main cave. I'll take over here." Leo explained, not really answering Don's question.

Don looked at him, almost asking the same question again. But he decided to not get into a further argument about it. "Okay, Leo… " He rocked onto his heels before handing over the medical supplies.

"Thank you, Don." Leo reassured him. "The sooner Nobody can get us out of here, the better. He said the place is sure to be swamped by the FBI soon."

"FBI?" both Don and Raph echoed.

"Just… go." Leo sighed. 

Don went by Ryuu as he led out two horses, one in each hand. Up ahead, a bluish light coming from a side room further down the cave alerted his attention. The light had to be where the lab was located. He gripped the blaster, wondering if there would be other riders or ninja on the loose. 

"Donatello." Nobody called out from the second side tunnel. Don stopped and looked at him, before coming over.

The dark cop smiled at him. 

"Okay, what do you want me to do?" Don leaned up against the stall wall to rub the back of his stiff neck.

Nobody knelt down to draw an oval in the dirt. "This represents the open cavern area over there. They use it as a riding arena."

Don knelt down to get a better look.

The man in black drew a square to one side of it. Then he pushed his finger in the dirt to make three dots. "This square here is the laboratory. Inside, we have the doc and his two lab assistants tied together. Dr. Itoda is hooked up to a biological bomb in a biohazard room next to them. If he even knows we're up to something to stop him, he'll hit the button. He rather we just leave him to his own demise." 

"So you want me to shoot him from across the arena?" Don took an educated guess.

"Close, but not quite." Nobody looked up at Don. "Can't kill him either. He rigged the detonator device to go off if his biorhythms become irregular. It's hooked up to him like an EKG."

"Shit…" Don looked at him, his eye ridges twisting in concern. Unfortunately, his throbbing headache made it hard to get motivated about this. The same question ran through his head, _what am I going to shoot at?_

"You really Leo, right?" Raph mumbled to him. With it being so dark, they couldn't really see each other.

Leo tied the tubing around his elbow, then around Mike's. "Yes, I am."

"Y'sure? Not gonna turn into Ryuu… he did that, y' know." 

"I _am_ Leo. Shhh, Raph." 

He felt for his vein to pop up, before sticking the needle into it. The syringe looked big enough to hold enough blood so that he could make just a few injections. The more times he had to insert the thing, the greater the chance of infection would be. 

"Yeah, you the super turtle," Raph pressed. "Always witha solution, no mattah what."

Leo took in a breath, the needle poised, and decided to not argue with Raph. Instead he took Mike's arm, felt for his vein, and injected the blood. He felt Mike's arm flinch when the needle emptied. "Sorry… but it'll make you feel better, Mikey." 

Leo stuck the needle back into his arm. "How bad did you get hit, Raph?"

"Mhh, all ovah my shell…" 

"Can you do _something_ to stop bleeding, while I do this?" 

Leo almost pulled out the needle, then stopped when an idea hit him. _We do have other needles, so if I just share this syringe and keep the needles inside… _he popped the full syringe off from his needle. Then found another syringe and popped its needle off to stick into Mike's arm.

"Don't have enough blood ta go around?" 

Leo sighed, forcing his attention on helping Mike than arguing. _Raph's going into shock, with that drunken attitude of his now. And I seriously don't think I _can_ help both without passing out. _Leo clenched his fist on the arm he had tied off to shake the tingly feeling. After the third injection, he paused to check Raph's plastron for holes. 

"Whoa… hay… what's wit the gropin' hands…? Mikey...?"

"Shh, Raph." Leo took wads of the jersey to plug the holes he could find. 

Nobody drew a bigger picture of the room where the bomb sat, and a rough illustration of the bomb. "This is what I think will work, however. This bomb here has a sensor device in it where the wiring from Itoda is hooked in. Maybe the remote controls are there too. I believe, if that part could be removed, or destroyed, I could move in without worrying about him setting the thing off on us and the FBI." He looked at the turtle.

"So, that's what you want me to shoot?" Don worked the stiffness from his sore jaw. 

"Yes." Nobody withdrew a target viewer from his coat. "Let's see your gun for a minute. I managed to obtain one of these, so you can spot your target. Magnifies 100x, so the bomb from across the arena will seem like it's right in your lap." The piece slid on with a click.

"Okay… um," Don took the blaster to briefly look through the viewer. "This is a laser gun though… what if the heat from the beam sets the bomb off?"

"Mm… here," Nobody pointed to the under part of the blaster near the handgrip. "You can set the strength of the beam too." 

Don looked it over completely, to see anything more that he would want to know. 

"Familiar with the skills of a sniper?"

"More than less…"

"Okay, lets go… oh, and here," Nobody took his black coat off and offered it to Don. "So you'll be less noticable against the cave walls." 

Don looked at his green jacket in agreement, before pulling out his bo and taking it off.

Nobody hung his coat up on a hook on the stall door. "Keep in mind too, you'll be shooting through glass, and the air is damper in that area."

"What I have in mind now, is that _all_ of our lives are in _my_ hands." Don held his blaster up to him. 

"All the more I need your help." Nobody looked around the end of the tunnel. "Here's the plan, Don. You go ahead, along that far arena wall. Make sure he doesn't see you. Find a spot over there to shoot from. If you're successful, I'll storm the lab and take him. You get the others and get out of the cave. If you miss… then we all try to get the hell out of here." 

"Nice… plan." Don sighed.

Ryuu recognized the voices in the cavern. "Guys…? Ryan here." He stopped in the small stream, and waited for a reply first. "I almost have all of the horses out, and tied to trees outside. I'm also thinking that… you're going to need our own horses… since it'll be hard to hike out there. All of us that is." 

Leo nodded. "As soon as Don comes back, we will have to get out of here before we get tied up with the authorities too." 

"I need to get ahold of Steve… to have a ride back." Ryuu added to the list.

"Maybe you should find Nobody, if possible, and ask him to contact her." Leo offered. He still felt a bit shaky about the bomb incident, but decided to not tell Ryuu about it.

"Hrmm…"

Don clutched the cave formations with care as he climbed up the wall. A great number of stalagmites stood close enough together for him to elevate himself behind them. He saw some movement from a few bats above him. _The higher, the better… _The turtle glanced at the lab with his own eyes, before looking through the viewer. _And the sooner, the better._ Those bats right over his head started to make him nervous. He drew in a couple deep breaths to calm himself and clear his head. What he saw through the viewer did not seem like "it was in his lap". To see and understand all the components of the bomb took some time.

Don shifted slightly to make himself comfortable in this awkward position on the stalagmites. To do well, he would have to take on something like a meditative state - to listen to his heartbeat and his breathing. A trained sniper would hold his breath, then shoot in between heart-beats, for the most accurate shot. Don rested the gun in between two narrow formations. 

His finger rested on the trigger, as he made his mark on a small box in the bomb. A bat swooped down right in front of the scope. It made him jump and he almost squeezed off a shot. _God damn, you little… I coulda… _Don gritted his teeth, trying to shake the scare off. He briefly closed his eyes to slow his heart rate and concentrate… to listen.

__

dub-ub… ah-thub-dub-ub…ah-thub-dub-ub…

The turtle held his breath. A beam shot straight into the bomb. Only a spark followed after. Nobody immediately broke down the door of the lab before Don realized what he had done. _I… did it! _Before any of this disturbed the bats, he leapt down from the formations. He also left the gun behind.

"Donny, you do it?" Ryuu came across him in the aisle way.

He nodded yes, with a grin. At the same time, thinking how stupid it would be for Ryan to be there if they had to get out of there fast. "We're out of here."

"Nobody's back there, right?" 

"No… uh, yeah."

"I need to get hold of a phone, or have him reach Steve somehow." Ryuu looked back to the riding arena.

"Well, um… he's a little busy right now." Don went over to retrieve his bo and coat from the stall door hook.

"Okay, so, in the meanwhile, Leo and I decided that you and he can hike out to our horses and bring them to the outside of the cave."

"Yeah, to make it easier for Mike and Raph." Don was wondering why the hell Ryuu wanted to hang around this place.

Ryuu stepped back into the isle. "I'll wait here, but I'll probably be ready to go when you come back. Oh, and Trinity's a kicker, so lead Tally behind Eclypse… y' know what I mean? "

"Um, yeah. Okay." Don left for the door. He didn't want to waste any more time on details, though.

[FORWARD TO CHAPTER SIXTEEN][1]

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   [2]: tmet14.html
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	16. HI NO DE - 16

HI NO DE - Chapter 16 ****

Juu-roku...

Don looked around the snowy hill as a bitter wind whipped around them. The urgency of now heavy on his mind, he knelt back down to Leo. The trip out to their horses turned out to be longer than expected, since the hike gave Leo dizzy spells. 

The older turtle rose from the snow again. He took in a deep breath as he looked at Don, making sure that sparkling pixy dust didn't dance around him. 

"Able to go on?" Don supported him anyway.

He nodded yes. 

Don put his arm around Leo's shoulders this time as they plowed through the powdery snow. The wind made his thighs, fingers, and cheeks sting with cold. _It's probably making Leo feel even worse, after the reduction of his blood._ _Damn... the wind chill has to be 10 below. _

"Keep going…" Leo looked up the short prelude of a hill that was part of a much bigger one. Don still fell a step behind to push him as they climbed.

They paused a moment where it leveled off a bit. "What about the other guy we left there?"

"We'll… take him back, somehow…" Leo mumbled, before continuing.

They fell silent again, each step feeling like such a physical excursion in their weary state. That all to familiar feeling of fatigue that sets in when the trial was about over. Don cursed at the heavy rubberized boots he wore too. 

An anticipated whinny from Trinity caught their attention. The two other horses were tied further back. Don noticed the stout mare, standing alone by one tree. Her neck was stretched up slightly, with an inquisitive expression on her face. The snow at her feet had been packed down and turned brown from mud and manure. He looked back to Leo, a brief smile on his face. "She's wondering where the _hay_ we've been." 

Leo shook his eye, studying the area through squinted eyes. He put a hand on Don's arm. "He's gone, the Japanese man."

The news didn't really seem to affect Don, even though he froze. They already closed down the main operation and finished its administrators. How should one powerless man mess things up? His eyes scanned the area without moving position. 

"His tracks are covered." Leo straightened up.

"Could he still be around…?"

"Probably went back to the cave, to warn them… after we left him. I.. don't think we _should_ worry." 

"Um, yeah." Don rubbed his neck, trying to not sound too discouraged by the other possibilities. Leo must really be out of it to not even worry.

__

Always watching our backs…it never ends.

"Still want to ride Eclypse?" Leo changed the topic.

Don nodded yes. "Don't feel like riding Trinity?" 

"Just as much as I want to ride a _heifer_…" Leo knelt down to dig the saddlebags and tack from a covering of snow. He pulled out the mares' bridles for Don. To his disappointment, the apple Leo found next felt frozen. If that was the case, the beef jerky would be rock hard, while everything else needed a fire to prepare. He tossed the apple back in the pack and rocked back to his heels.

Also wishing for something to eat, Eclypse nickered softly to Don and Leo. She watched Don briefly, then studied the things Leo did with the saddlebags. Don paced as he held an icy, metal bit in each hand. Eclypse's pleads for attention succeeded in capturing his. The turtle gripped the bridle bits in his numb hands, before walking up to the red mare's shoulder. "Maybe you can help." He pressed the bits against her warm, furry shoulder.

Leo gathered the scratched up hunt-seat saddle and saddle bags for Trinity. "Need to put Tally's saddle on too."

Don picked up on his hint and tucked the two bridles inside his coat. The saddling up part was easy. At least he didn't have to bridle up that pony this time. When in truth, Ryan ended up doing most of the bridling for them. The part about sticking a thumb in the horse's mouth to slip the bit in was the problem for him and Mike. Or keeping the bit in the mouth long enough to get the bridle over the ears. He was lucky Leo could do it.

"Dammit…" Leo stood on his toes bring her head back down. Evading the bit and bridle became Trinity's favorite game as of late. She was one Ryan ended up bridling without a doubt. "I wonder how Raph put up--" 

"I'll help," Don tucked Eclypse's reins in his elbow to grab her halter and hold her head down.. 

Ryan squinted when the sun came out from the clouds again. The snow covered trees around them shown in glorious white. They found a foot trail that lead to a particular road-side rest stop, to get back. Earlier, he also asked Steve on the phone to meet them there as soon as possible. Ryan gripped the rope to Tally, and slowed Danza's walk so he could turn around in his saddle. The others did their best to keep up, as they had full loads as well. Don rode in tandem with Mike on Eclypse, as he led the dark mare. Likewise, Leo rode with Raph behind him and Delilah in tow, since those two mares did get along. 

Don only met Ryan's worried glance with an equally concerned one. He sighed and shortened the reins gathered in his left hand again. He didn't even care that Mike smelled worse than any sewer. Only the close grip Mike had around his shell and his warm breath on his neck comforted Don that his brother was conscious. Alive. "We're almost there…" he whispered his assurances again. Don meant the words for all of them too. Raph's condition had gotten a lot worse when he and Leo returned with the horses. At least Raph clung onto consciousness just enough to pester Leo to the very end. 

"Leo…" Raph's voice barely came above a whisper. "More leg… less hand. Can't fight…" 

"She doesn't listen with the reins in _one_ hand, _how_ can I give her 'less hand'?" Leo argued, only worsened by the fact he didn't understand Raph's point. He already had his hands full with Trinity ignoring him, and Delilah wanting to stop and graze every few strides.

"She testin' you ... " Raph straightened up to cough. 

Don shook his head. They'd been circling on that issue for a long time, it seemed. 

__

Donnie… Mike's whisper touched his senses. His breathing sounded shallower. _Lift me up… _

"No Mikey, hang on." Don whispered, but he felt Mike's grip weaken. The movement of the horse also made him slip to the right. Don hoped the saddle bags Mike sat on would help support him. 

"Feel like pukin'… can't breathe…" 

"No Mike. You'll be okay." Don put the lead rope in his rein hand, then tucked Mike's cold, bare leg under his to put his brother back in balance. "Hang on to me."

Mike swallowed hard a few times, trying to fight off the swelling in his throat. He hugged Don tight and concentrated on the sound of the hooves hitting the earth again. It seemed harder now, to hold onto his strength as long. _So damn cold…can't…_

Mike's breathing grew more audible, sounding like Darth Vader to his ears. Don loosened the reins so he could embrace Mike's arms for a moment. His voice came as a soft whisper that only Mike could hear. "Don't…be like that." 

__

Sorry… Mike swallowed again, when he heard Don start humming _Lean on Me_. He squinted his eyes at the tacky humor, like as if he wasn't suffering enough. "Donnie… ? Stop…"

Don smirked. _Be obliged I didn't hum Barney's song. _The sound of tires splashing through slush alerted his senses. He looked up from the small ravine they rode through in search of the road. 

"Are we close, Ryan?" Leo called from behind.

"Yeah… Looks like it's up there." 

"Good." 

"C'mon Raph, stay with me." 

"Mhh… fuck…off…" Raph leaned back on the picnic table's edge, his head nodding from side to side in disorientation.

"Raph, don't…" Leo gripped his shoulders.

"…please look…" Mike sat hunched over on the picnic table seat.

Don finally left the table in search of a flashlight. Maggots that still could be in Mike's wounds became his latest fear, but to the point of absurdity. "You _don't_ have maggots in your throat, Mikey." The possibility gave Don the creeps anyway.

"Open up, and say ahhh…" He bent down to shine the light into Mike's mouth. 

Mike rose an eyeridge in anticipation.

"Negative. I told you, you're clean. Just got a really _red_, sore throat." Don turned the light off and set it in the snow on top of the picnic table. 

"Hard to breathe…" He brought a hand to his throat.

"Yeah…" Don continued checking his brother for any other parasites. "But y' know what, Mike, maggots aren't all _that_ bad. They help clean out the dead tissue and dirt too." He pushed back the trench coat to see more of the laser blast on Mike's shoulder. _Disgusting…_

He turned away from Don to give Leo a "save me from him" look. However, the truck and trailer pulling into the parking lot gained more of Leo's attention.

Steve stepped out of the Ford with a look of disbelief. The horses didn't look as bad as she feared, but the five looked horrible. Covered in mud and blood. She was quick to notice the strange, bay horse instead of the gray one however. Ryan approached her with a solemn look on his face. "Ryan, " she gently laid a hand on his shoulder. "What is it? It's about Jon, yes?" Her eyes seemed to be drawn to his black eye and bruised lips as well.

He decided not to tell her about his face. "He's dead…" Ryan frowned. "Thought it would be better if I told you in person."

Steve held her tongue, looking beyond to the four at the picnic table. Two of them looked really bad. She recognized Leo, after he saw her looking at them. Looked like it was Raph he was trying to get moving.

"Leo's very sorry about it. The attack was so sudden… Jon was shot." Ryan continued.

The news about Jon didn't seem to take much effect yet. Seeing the injured before her felt more shocking. "I'll understand… but Ryan, let us take these guys back. Get them some aid."

Ryan looked back to the four-horse trailer, realizing they would have to take two trips.

"Put Danza, Tally, Delilah and Trinity in the trailer. Someone not hurt will have to stay behind to baby sit the last two horses. I'll help these guys into the truck." 

Ryan quietly nodded and headed over to the tied horses. 

She approached the picnic table, taking in what she could of the situation. It was Raph that looked to be the worst, while Leo and Don were the most able. "You need help, I can see that." 

"Yeah," Don stood with Mike's arm around his shoulder. "Raph can't stay conscious…" 

Steve sighed. That dull, unseeing look in Mike's eyes disturbed her. "Can you walk him up to the truck yourself?"

"Yeah," Don turned to leave.

"Go on if you can." Steve turned to Leo. "I'll help you get Raph to the truck. Did… he get shot too?" 

"Yeah… trying to help Mike." Leo sighed. He had to get his worst burden off his chest though. "Steve, I feel really bad about Jon. We did what we could…"

She didn't say anything yet. Only took up Raph's heavy arm to put around her neck. "He was a good horse… but, well, you did what you could. I shouldn't blame you, just myself…"

Leo tried to bear more of Raph's weight to make it easier for her. Raph was hardly walking anyway. He held a silent stare on the truck and trailer.

"I couldn't believe I let you five go out here. I heard about the snow in the forecast, and I was silly to think you would be back in a day. We called the police after you left, and nothing happened. They just pulled a _bluff_. Shows how _fear_ is so controlling." 

"No… it's all _our_ fault. We asked for it." It felt like something he told April, after the first time the Foot tore her life apart. Every time they get to know someone, they end up dragging them down into their conflicts. "You didn't have to help us, Steve. You had every right to say _no_ to all our requests. Don't worry. We're used to the battle... we're ninja. But you didn't need to suffer loss, you don't deserve-." 

"I don't feel it should be that way." Steve readjusted Raph's arm to relieve the tiring muscles in her shoulder. "Only hope you'll be okay in the end."

Don sat on the picnic table, watching the tall, dark mare and Eclypse. Leo decided it was better if he went the others, so he could care for them at the house. That left Don to be the odd one out. He didn't want to feel cheated on the matter. He just didn't want to miss out on anything with his brothers. At least they offered him some Advil for his headache. Steve also talked them into letting their vet look at Raph and Mike. It won't be too much trouble since she already called Dr. Abalone before leaving, just so they could have Delilah's baby checked. The curiosity about how their veterinarian would react to his brothers burned in his head. Or how she would treat such unnatural wounds, like Raph's laser holes and Mike's wild imagination.

The combination of boredom and impatience made his mind wander as well. That Japanese rider that got away from them may just come back to haunt him. He also figured he would be there for about an hour, freezing his tail off. And he so much wanted caffeine, or sleep, to just get through this "test". 

Don looked at the bay mare searching through the snow for grass. _If Steve would keep you, you need a name. _She and Eclypse seemed to get along the whole time they had them together too. 

__

Total eclipse…like an astronomy theme. How about…Jupiter, for being so big? Yeah. Or Venus, for your beauty? But definitely not Neptune, or Pluto, no... not after Mickey Mouse's dog. Asteroid? Moon Shadow… errr, what am I thinking? It shall be Saturn, spelled with a 'y' as well! The bay mare looked up and cleared her nasal passages with a snort. 

"I dub thee… _Satyrn_." Don whispered to her, with a nod. Then he rubbed his face, realizing how goofy he was getting lately. _Oh god, help me…I'm being affectionate toward animals now._

Raphael came to in darkness. The whole experience riding away from that damn cave felt like a dream now. He felt so confused - he thought they left it, but it still looked like the cave. Then points of sparking light, resembling stars in outer space, came into focus. Raphael still couldn't see himself though. An orange glow of fire often appeared in the corner of his eyes, as if it was behind him. When he tried to look for the source, however, it couldn't be seen. How did he get there, or was it where someone went when they were about to die? At least his mind felt that way. His body felt numb and airy, like he was floating. Waiting for a force to take him somewhere. 

"Do you want to die this way?" 

A chilling voice suddenly echoed from everywhere. Alarm rushed through Raphael upon hearing the words. 

The blue, translucent form of his master appeared. "The decision rest in your heart and soul, my son. Your _soul_…" Splinter raised his cupped hands to reveal a glowing ember. He softly blew on it to rekindle its heat. 

The back door to the house swung open, and Ryan and Leo came in with Raph between them. Steve told them to lay him down on the kitchen floor, so the blood could easily be cleaned up later. As soon as Leo laid Raph back, he went to the task of resuscitating him. Raph stopped breathing a few minutes before they arrived.

Ryan turned to help Steve get Mike inside. Steve left him with Ryan, so she could get the vet. Dr. Abalone stood outside her truck when they pulled in. 

"Galapagos tortoises too, huh? I told you before on the phone, exotics are not my specialty. Just large farm animals." She pushed aside some strands of her dark hair. 

"Yes, I know. But please, just this time? The… tortoises are in need of aid. One is in critical condition." Steve looked back to the house

"What brought you into rescuing exotic reptiles all of a sudden?" Dr. Abalone began to collect more equipment from her truck. She wondered if she would need to send her assistant back to the shop for more items.

"Well, it was a hobby that just 'came' to me." Steve played along with her jest for a moment. "But seriously, Diane, these 'exotics' aren't exactly what you'd expect. A well kept secret of nature's bizarre."

The vet handed some medical supplies in a metal bucket to her assistant, Amy. "Nature's bizarre, huh? Exotics all the same." 

"And they'd like to remain secret. They're actually… _mutated_ turtles - half human." Steve took them over to the back of the house. 

Dr. Abalone stopped in the hallway before the kitchen. At first, she wondered what happened to Ryan and this other kid in a tattered trench coat. Steve had mentioned he helped rescue her horses from horse thieves, but it now sounded very peculiar. Abalone realized the one sitting on the stairs was not human at all. Despite the dirt and grit, the reptilian face and green skin were hard to miss. Amy whispered something under her breath too. 

"Um, he's the one with respiratory problems and one gun shot. But it's… Raphael you should see first." Steve showed them to the kitchen.

Two more human-sized creatures in mud-caked, bloody clothes were on the floor. They looked so savage, but this act of one breathing into the other displayed higher intelligence. Her eyes were drawn to the sword handles sticking from holes in the coat of one turtle. "Amy, see if I have a respirator on my truck. And some IV supplies and an EKG machine."

"How is he?" Steve stepped up to Leo.

"Nothing." He didn't look up.

Steve noticed the doctor's curious expression. "Oh... this is Leo, and that's his brother Raphael." 

Abalone nodded, kneeling down on the other side of Raphael. _Sense of identity, family connections, speech - how did this come to be?_ As she pulled on a pair of arm length rubber gloves, the vet studied the bloody jersey, noticing the holes in it. _Definitely shot… where did they come from…?_

"I need to go back and pick up the last of the horses. Can you handle this without my help, Diane?" Steve paused in the hallway. A part of her wanted to stay, but she knew Don would not be happy left out there too long.

"I think we could." The vet assumed her confidence. She hoped these creatures didn't turn on her, however. And Steve said they were mutated. How safe was it to be exposed to their blood? 

"And Ryan will be here to help as well." She stepped out the back door. 

Feelings of uncertainty came over her after Steve left. She was used to just restraining the animal and doing what needed to be done. Her mind searched hard for a plan to handle this. But this reptilian creature, with the mind of a human, made her wonder if she should treat him with more respect. Abalone stopped herself from those thoughts. There wasn't time to think about that. "He's been shot, and I need to see where." 

Leo looked up between breaths, but didn't say anything. 

Shrugging off his indifferent eyes, she pulled out her scissors. _Never met an animal that trusted a vet yet._ "I'm going to cut the shirt open, okay?" She told Leo just in case the act alarmed him. Then the reality of this emergency hit her. The vet wasn't familiar with reptiles at all. What if she had to get bullets out from within the shell?

Abalone had cut half way up the jersey when Raphael moved. She promptly withdrew just as his arms rose up, but Raph only pushed Leo away from his face. The turtle coughed before catching onto his own breath. Dr. Abalone came back to Raph, holding the scissors closed in her hand. "Okay, good, that's a boy. Breath for us." She looked up to Leo. "I like to take over."

Satisfied only that Raph was breathing, Leo sat back on his haunches to watch. He slowly nodded his okay.

Despite his nagging cough, the vet finished cutting away the wet jersey to see the damage. The turtle had been shot four times, but since he's still awake, they somehow missed direct hits with the vital organs. She couldn't be sure about anything though, since he was something she never seen before. The bullets could have nicked a lung, the liver, and a kidney. No doubt that there was internal bleeding somewhere. She needed to take x-rays to find out for sure. If they needed to cut him open, she also had to take him back to the animal hospital. 

"Mhh… who are…" Raph raised an arm, upon feeling pressure from her hands on his shell front.

Leo pressed his arm down, whispering calming words. 

Abalone looked up, to see his weary eyes touch hers for a moment. "Did the shots go through?" 

"Yeah… they're from a laser gun."

__

A laser gun? "Hmm, good. No need to look for bullets through a one inch hole." She told him with relief, even though it wasn't what she really would have done. This meant she didn't have to consider extensive plans for an operation. Dr. Abalone retrieved some medical supplies to inspect the holes. "More time to concentrate on stabilizing him and patching up the wounds." And just from habit, she also asked if Raphael had a tetanus shot. 

Leo twisted his face before realizing what she meant. "A tetanus vaccination? Not… no."

"You don't want me to take him in?" She checked. Those swords he carried were enough that she was not about to push the issue.

"No. Try... do what you can here." Leo frowned. Even though he tried to not show it, her suggestion made him very uncomfortable. Too many people they would be exposed to. Too many _science_ people. He collected that wariness from the science shows on TV and warnings from Splinter. Science equaled Death. _Leave no trace_… the rule wasn't just to hone their ninja skills.

The assistant returned with some equipment, pausing in the doorway to the kitchen. "Diane, we don't have the respirator or EKG."

Abalone turned on the balls of her feet to face Amy. "Well, fortunately, he's breathing now." She turned back to Leo with the hopes he would cooperate. "We can take care of him here, so if you could… step aside."

He hesitated before rising to his feet. Probably a good idea to check on Mike now. He'd be back to see what they would be doing to Raph soon. As much as he envied modern medicine, the primal part of him despised its ways of technology and chemicals. As he headed up the stairs, Leo heard her make a call on the phone for someone to send more supplies. 

Don hastily set the grate down on the barbecue grill when he heard the truck and trailer approach. 

"Thanks for waiting." Steve closed the door. "You must be frozen by now!"

He pocketed his Leatherman tool and shrugged. "How are they, Raph and Mikey?"

"Well, I think they're in good hands." Steve lied as they went over tot he mares. She didn't want to worry him too much more until they returned. 

They quickly loaded the horses on, and pulled back out on the road. Don's skin just tingled from the heat that came from the truck's heater. He felt like he forgot what heat was. Don glanced over to Steve, seeing the worry come out through wrinkles on her face. _They better be okay._

They didn't say much for the next fifteen minutes. The comforting heat almost made Don doze off. He wanted to stay awake though. He felt like if he went to sleep now, he wouldn't wake up. Then he remembered something Ryan told him at the cave, before they left. 

"Steve,"

She too seemed to come out of a trance.

"How would you feel about… getting another foal?"

The woman glanced over to him, confused. "What do you mean?"

"Well, um, Ryan told me the FB-- uh, the police, might give your farm this baby. Like a sort of reward, or a thank you for our help. But, I mean, they would keep it and make it a police horse, if you're not interested." 

They were getting close to the farm. Steve just rubbed her chin in thought. "We'll see." 

Don noticed already, another horse and trailer pulling into the drive. A couple police cars escorted it as well. "Thought I'd warn you." He smiled at her.

Evening fell over them at last. In reality, a day was always 24 hours. This one, however, felt like one of those with extended time. They finally saw its end. Leo and Don went up stairs, and were not seen again. Ryan also stuck around, despite Steve's insisting that he should go to an ER to be checked over. He rather just spend the night there. Not only to help her out with the turtles, but also to check up on the new horses. They decided to keep the special baby and Satyrn. 

They also moved Raphael, IV bags and all, over to an air mattress in the living room. They felt confident as long as he remained in a stable condition. As for Mike, he felt a little better after spending an hour in the shower scrubbing the stench away. The vet also prescribed anti-flammatory steroids to help the swelling in his throat. She concluded it had been caused from irritation from inhaling the fumes. Mike also got a "whiner's award" from Don about the few maggots Abalone picked off of Mike. She admitted to Steve she and Amy had a hard time trying not to laugh about Mike's exaggerations. Leo did get hold of April earlier, to ask if she could come by tomorrow to pick them up. 

Ryan and Mike watched TV, trying to ignore the beep from the EKG monitor hooked to Raph's heart. The noise because like a painful reminder to his condition. Nothing seemed to disturb Raph from his sleep though, thanks to the sedatives. Mike had sacked out on the couch, leaving a little room on one end for Ryan. But they still remained pretty much awake despite their exhaustion. 

Todd finally slipped past Steve to the living room. He came up to Mike and leaned on the seat cushion. "Feelin' better?" he asked in a soft voice, like his mom does for him.

Mike opened his eyes from dozing, and rested his head on his elbow. "You want me too?" his voice was still rough. 

"Sorry guys…" Steve followed close behind.

"I wanna see Charlie Brown." Todd whined.

"I know, honey--"

Mike sat up a little more. "Don't mind if he wants."

"You're not trying to sleep?"

Ryan shook his head. "Just talking and channel surfing." 

"Don't think Raph would care either. If that durn beepin' isn't bothering him..." Mike yawned.

Ryan looked at Mike, and grinned. _You sound like a friggin' chain smoker, Mikey._

Mike shot him a glance.

Steve put the tape in a left. Todd climbed up on the couch and snuggled up to Mike. _How many times have I seen this one on TV? You make me feel old, kid._ He had to admit, the show seemed longer then. Must have been the commercials they stuck in between.

Then the part where Charlie Brown gets fed up with play, people's attitudes, and the superficial commercialism came up. The question of what Christmas was really about. Linus asked for a moment on the stage, his face composed.

__

Lights please… And there were in the same country, shepherds abiding in the fields, keeping watch over their flocks by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them. The glory of the Lord shone around them. And they were so afraid. And the angel said unto them "Fear not. For behold, I bring you great tidings of great joy, which to be for all people. For unto you a child is born this day in the city of David, a Savior which is Christ the Lord. And this should be a sign unto you, you shall find the baby wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly, there was with the Angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying glory to God in the highest and to earth, peace and goodwill toward men." 

A hush falls upon the stage. Then Linus told Charlie Brown, "And that's what Christmas is all about." 

Mike looked to Ryan at the other end of the couch, then back to the TV. He's heard that story many a time before. But this time seemed to make an impact. Perhaps after what they just been through, it made much more sense. _Jesus…_

They look at each other. _You got that right. _

A few more minutes when on, as the poor like sapling is turned into a beautiful Christmas tree. Ryan noticed Mike was falling asleep again. He had to admit, that turtle and Todd looked cute together. But anyway, he had to get some sleep. _Beep… beep… beep… beep… beep…_

Mike opened his eyes and stared at Ryan. _Would you kindly mind?_

Don told me to be a pain in your ass for him. Ryan chuckled as he headed upstairs.

__

Once upon a time I was faithless, running blind thru the Vallley of the Lost  
So now you find it rather strange  
When you hear me call the name of the One who bears the cross…

Michael W. Smith "I Believe in You Now"

[FORWARD TO CHAPTER SEVENTEEN ][1]

[BACK TO CHAPTER FIFTEEN ][2][  
BACK TO CONTENTS][3]

   [1]: tmet17.html
   [2]: tmet15.html
   [3]: TMET.html



	17. HI NO DE - 17

HI NO DE - Chapter 17 ****

Juu-nana...

…_eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee_…

__

Oh God…

Mike shot up from the couch and threw aside the blankets. Dizziness overwhelmed him, making him stumble into the table in front of the couch. He rose to his hands and knees, squinting through the snow to the other end of the room.

The flat line still rang out.

__

Raph… 

Mike crawled to him on his hands and knees. The sound of adhesive ripping from skin reached his ears. Relief took him when he saw a dark silhouette sitting on the mat. 

__

Raph, he's not… 

Mike reached his brother in time to stop him from pulling out the IV's. Raph tried to resist the grip he had on his wrists.

"Stop…please…" Mike's throat felt so bad, he couldn't talk. The vet said he shouldn't, actually. Weakness took over and Raph gave in. He and Mike looked at each other, briefly studying their bare faces. 

"Fuck, I… gotta pee." Raph still sounded half-awake and whiny.

Mike swallowed to wet his throat, just nodding. The false alarm took longer to go away. Raph looked around the wires in disarray and the tubes hanging from his arms. "What's wit dis shit?"

Still shaking from the nerves, Mike messed with the screaming black monitor until he found a way to turn it off. "The vet thought… it necessary. Let's go." He swallowed again. He didn't like being teased with Death like that_._ After Mike unhooked the two intravenous bags and draped them around his neck, he held onto Raph to stand up. They managed to get as far as the hallway.

"No… no way… can't." The turtle stopped at the foot of the stairs, coughing. 

__

What do you mean, 'can't'? Mike gave him a worried look. That cough didn't sound good either. He glanced back up the stairs hoping someone would come to help.

Raph turned for the back door. 

"Ohhh… no… Raph? _Wait_…" He had no choice but to follow him. Not following could result in pulling out Raph's needles. _Don't go outside…the snow…_

"Mutha-fuckin'… shit…" Raph desperately fumbled with the lock and doorknob before finally pulling the door open. 

"Gah… at least, not on the deck…" 

Raph gripped the railing in pain. "Mhh… god damn _blood_ in everything…" 

Mike looked out the door, then to the snowy ground next to the deck. _Damn… blood in his pee. _That scared him again. He stepped out behind his brother and gripped his shoulders. "Raph, c'mon… it's cold…"

"I can _walk_…" he coughed while edging back to the door.

"Suuure you can." Mike followed him, closing the door behind. Raph had a limp in his left leg, making it hard. Then they met Ryan waiting in the hallway. Steve stood not too far behind on the stairs.

"I heard the EKG go off. Something wrong?" Ryan asked.

"Uhhh…" Mike grinned with much embarrassment. _He had to go really bad… took off the monitor things._

__

Oh, I see…He turned around to Steve, reassuring it was okay. 

"Are you certain?" she asked all of them.

Mike nodded. He didn't want to say more for Raph's sake.

Ryan reassured her he'll help them out, and she left. He moved in to help Mike get Raph from the wall to the mattress. 

__

Sorry about the, um… Mike mentally whispered to him.

__

Ehh... don't worry. Maybe we could say the dog did it.

"What the hell did you guys…" Raph continued mumbling to himself.

Ryan could sense their worry anyway. He stood by as Mike knelt by Raph. _Raph's not doing well, is he?_

Bleeding inside still…what can we do?

The vet was afraid of that. Wondered if she could take Raph in for ex-rays and to do more for him. Leo decided against it. 

"I'm gonna take these things out…" 

"No, Raph. Don't." Mike turned back to his brother. "You need 'em."

"No, I don't"

"You do."

"No, I _don't_."

Mike sighed, his hand still covering the needle on Raph's arm. He decided to use one of Splinter's firm tones, being that now wasn't a time to loose this game. "You _do_."

The whole thing still bothered Ryan. _He's been hurt bad before…? Leo seemed to imply._

"Mikey…let go…"

__

Yeah, the Foot beat him up a year ago. Concussion. We don't think he's recovered all the way from it. More mental.

Mental?

Mike batted at Raph's attempts to get free. _Mental… like, psychotic. Lethal Weapon material. _

Ryan held his thoughts, deciding not to bother them any further. It must be tough for them to handle injures like that, with what little resources they have.

"It's this, or drinking water every 30 minutes, Raph." Mike reasoned. _Why do you have to be so ornery, bro? I just want you to get better._ A_s a way to repay you for saving my ass. _His thoughts were only for Raph that time, even though Ryan couldn't help but pick up on them.

"Need anything more?" Ryan paused, before leaving them. 

"Yeah, a glass of water." Mike spoke to make Raph think it was for him.

"Makes me piss like a race horse, dammit…" 

__

'Cause it hurts? Ryan looked to Raph.

Raph shut up, only to give the kid a cold stare. 

Ryan knelt down by Mike to face him. _Can't hide it all, Raph. I know how you really feel about all this, so stop being such an ass._

The turtle closed his eyes and lay back with a groan.

__

Gets him every time. The kid turned to Mike, a fleeting grin on his face. _But, let me know if something goes wrong… I'm in the hallway up there. _He left to go up the stairs, only to stop halfway. "Oh yeah… the water." Ryan went back down to the kitchen.

Mike got up to grab the blankets and a pillow from the couch, then piled them next to Raph's mattress.

"_What_... are ya doin'? I don't need a baby sittah." Raph lifted his head.

Mike straightened out his makeshift bed. "I do." 

Raph mumbled something under his breath.

Ryan silently came in with a glass of water for Mike, then left upstairs. Mike held his breath and gulped some well water in hopes of not tasting the bad iron flavor. Making a face about the aftertaste, he set the glass on the brick fireplace hearth next to the monitor. Nonetheless, something in him felt like having some fun. Raph seemed okay, despite some things. More simply, he wasn't too eager about going sound asleep. The threat of suffocating from his throat swelling up still lingered, especially if he missed taking the drugs during the night. At the same time, he didn't feel the same fear about Death as he had before. Something about breathing It gave him more insight on what it was. A respect. 

But both of them had gotten too close to it for comfort. 

"'You wanna be sick to have your butt kicked?'" Mike recalled something Leo told Raph weeks ago, just to bug him. 

Raph only opened his eyes. 

Mike smiled in a sly way. 

"He's wrong. I kicked _their_ ass… sick and fulla holes." 

"No you didn't. Not Tatsu's. But…you weren't alone either…" Mike whispered, in a very serious tone. "Just want to... thank you, bro." He also owed much to Leo too, but Raph was a different case. He could see now what this was that made Leo and Raph more agreeable with each other, after the Last Time. 

Raph looked at Mike with mixed thoughts, now that more of the grogginess left him. He didn't care who was the worse off right now. The fact that Mike had almost been _dead_ settled in his mind. And he vaguely remembered someone telling him about Mike's heart stopping. Raph didn't know how he got that information, as all that happened yesterday came to him like a bad dream now. But then, could it be… was Mike telling him he'd gone out of his body? Only Splinter had been able to do that, especially when held captive by the Shredder. Could've also explained how the hell he was able to keep going for so long after he was shot.

His gaze looked away from his brother a moment. Being sentimental was something that rarely happened to him. _Damn… you were almost dead. You, the bouncing, baby brother. _It still felt hard to imagine. Except for the bandages on his arm and shoulder, Mike didn't even look hurt. But here he was full of holes with medical stuff stuck all over. But what was wrong with Mike was more on the inside. Raph reached out to touch Mike's arm. 

"How are ya now?"

Mike was sensing something deep, churning in Raph, but couldn't bear that weight much longer. His instinct to hide behind merry-ment surfaced again. "Geez… they put me on steroids! Like, I'm gonna _pump_ you up!" Mike half laughed, despite the strain on his lungs.

"Steroids? What the fuck? … That vet must cost--"

"Yeah. Somethin' about them keeping my throat from swellin' and suffocating me."

"Well... anything to avoid wakin' up and findin' yourself sucking face with Leo." Raph whispered in a matter of fact tone. He also recognized the other reason why Mike didn't feel comfortable being over on the couch, and decided to address it. "So, why don't you sleep with _him_ instead?"

That made Mike burst out with laughter, ignoring Raph's point. "Oh no… but, that _vet_ was like, 'Hel-lo nurse!'" 

His laughter became contagious for some reason. Raph rose up on his elbow to take in a couple labored breaths to control himself. "Laughter's like medicine? Shit, it _hurts_…"

"Total babe-alicious! She even gave me a sponge bath!" Mike lay on his stomach, but he still shook from laughter.

Raph rolled to his plastron to look Mike in the eye. "Oh _sure_. She probably pumped you up so full of drugs, you dreamed that."

"Hah-hah! _Jeal_ous!" 

"Mhh... she did me first, " Mike's flippant teasing just was enough to fire his desire to fight back. The faster Raph could wear the nervous giggles out of Mike, the better. "'Cause you're the _wuss_."

"Am not!" 

"Pansy Ass."

"I am _not_."

"Maggot Munch."

"Neutered Swiss Cheese." Mike leaned in on the challenge. 

Raph quietly laughed, but his innards felt like they couldn't take this much longer. He thought it was Mike with the bad lungs. "Think you can _beat_ me?"

He rose up on his elbows. "Yeah, Obnoxious Fart." 

"You probably won't live to enjoy the victory, Pussy Puke, 'cause I'm gonna strangle you with these damn IV tubes." 

"Um, try harder, Queer Beer."

Mike started to laugh again, for no reason whatsoever. A part of him knew that Raph was getting fed up. He could see the pain Raph started to wear. Just what he didn't want to do, inflict pain, but his nerves still shook. If he didn't laugh or something, what he'd do would be a lot worse. And Raph wasn't big on tears. 

"Roach Rot," Raph neatly placed his pillow in Mike's face, "Can it, will ya? You _need_ to sleep."

Through the fog of how he spent the past few weeks, Casey momentarily thought about the directions to this horse farm again. It had been some time since he been out in the countryside. The last time was his parent's old farm in north Hampton, last summer. The guys wanted to spend the summer there, so he obliged them by offering a ride to and from. 

Then out of the blue, his mother called to invite him to her place for Thanksgiving. He figured that she was feeling lonely, and scared, from the war going on in the Middle East. Other than being a landlord of an apartment near Central Park, she didn't have much else to do. That farm of theirs in North Hampton sort of marked the changing point in his life. After his father died many years before, his mother moved to the big city. He began a rebel from his family's lack of morals at that point too. The impressions his alcoholic father left in his mind became something he rather not think of. Then, a kid he befriended in the city fell into a street gang, only to die by that decision. Another infuriating thing he rarely mentioned to anyone, but instead used to fuel his vigilante motives. That came about after he failed to meet his dream as a hockey player due to an injury. 

Casey gritted his teeth, clearing his head from the past again. His honed 57 Chevy at least gave a reason to think better thoughts. For a restored classic, it still handled well on these long road trips out to the middle of no-where. The farm in question came to view and he turned into the drive. After parking near the house, Casey went to the front door and rang the bell. A slight, Asian kid answered it. 

"Hi. Um…?" Ryan held the door ajar, but wasn't sure as to who he was talking to.

Casey noticed the kid's black eye and bruised lip right away. "Wow, this looks like the place."

Ryan leaned on the doorframe. This man in a battered denim coat and worn out jeans seemed almost dangerous. "And uh, you're also 'their' friend?"

"Their…? My little green buddies? Yeah," Casey rubbed his hands together to lose some numbness from the cold. "An'… oh, I guess they told you April was coming."

"But she couldn't make it…?" 

"Yeah." He nodded, looking around the porch. "Name's Casey Jones."

"I'm Ryan, the assistant manager around here." He finally decided to let Casey into the house. What with all the suspicious people he'd been running into lately, he wasn't sure anymore. "The guys are still asleep though. And… Steve, the owner, she's out in the barn right now."

He pushed back some of his long dark hair back in place. In the living room to his right, he recognized Mike and Raph at one end asleep on the floor. And the medical related items around them. "Damn… looks like they got roughed up good."

"Yeah…but they need the sleep." Ryan heard activity from upstairs, then looked to the rough-cut man. "The other two are upstairs. Leo's up." 

Casey had no choice but to follow him up the stairs. He noticed the scents of liniment and soap from the bathroom lingering in the hall. Ryan knocked on the door to the guest bedroom before entering. "Your friend, Casey is here."

"Casey?" Leo sat on the couch. He just finished wrapping gauze around his lower leg.

"Yep. April couldn't come out. Last minute detail with your Master came up."

Leo didn't say anything, but got up to wake his brother on the other couch. "Donny, Casey's here. Let's get going."

"Is he okay?" Leo turned to Casey for a moment. Splinter sounded like he was coming down with something the last they spoke over the phone. He himself hadn't gotten much sleep last night. He heard all the commotion started from the machine, but Ryan told him to not go down. They'll handle it, and it did turn out to be nothing. Leo was still ready to spring when needed. He soon recognized the idle chatter going on between his brothers. And only then it came to a point he thought about getting up just to tell them to be quiet. Ryan had taken charge over much of their care, so he tried to not worry.

Casey rested a hand against the doorway and looked down for a moment to find the right the words. Leo tended to get sensitive when in came to Master Splinter, something he learned from Raph. "He's not feeling too well. She's got him in her apartment right now. In between him and covering what she can on the horse crimes, kinda busy."

"She didn't have to--"

"April said to not worry about it. He'll be okay. Really worried about you guys, but he's doin' fine." Casey looked at Leo. There it was again, that damned look of concern they get for each other. He had to admit, they were teaching him to be the same way. To care more about his relations, at least. He also started to wonder just how bad Raph was. 

"Splinter's sick?" Don muttered through a yawn. 

Leo nodded, wishing they could get back as soon as possible now. He gathered up the rest of the blankets and folded them to make a neat stack on his couch. What little of their other stuff had been packed earlier.

"Well, um, I dunno. It's almost noon, so if anyone wants something?" Ryan offered the three, hoping to not be too rude by taking them off the topic.

Casey didn't seem to care. Leo looked to Don. Neither of them ate much since they came back yesterday. 

Don slowly sat up, then shook his head in refusal. "Still don't feel too good. Maybe some coffee...thanks anyway." 

"I'm going back down," Casey pointed behind to the stairs. Leo sensed what he was hinting at, and decided to follow.

Ryan followed suit as well. He paused at the door a moment to look at Don. "Coming down soon?"

"Yeah…" The tired turtle rubbed his arms and yawned. "Eventually."

On the way down the stairs, Leo told Casey what happened to the other two. 

"You're tellin' me Raph got shot up?" He gasped. "I thought he learned to be more careful than that! Shit."

"Different situation this time." 

Casey went with Leo into the living room. From the blanketed lump laying in front of Raph, he proved his suspicions about the two as correct. Raph lay on his side, the back of his blood encrusted, bandaged shell facing them. Even though his blankets had been kicked off in the night, he looked out of it now. And from the absence of the heart monitor wires, Leo guessed they also been up and about. That also worried him, as the activity may have harmed Raph's healing process. 

"Mornin' guys," Mike's rough voice mumbled from under the quilt to them. He heard the voices when they came in earlier. Sweeping the blanket from his face, he rolled to his side so that his back was to his brother. "Hey Raph…" 

"…mh-shuddup Mikey…" It was a command that came out of habit from saying it all night long. At least Mike finally grew tired enough to sleep when the sun came up.

Leo stepped around so he could kneel near Raph. "Casey's here," he added.

"…wha for…?" Raph barely opened his eyes. He felt Leo checking his pulse and things. 

"To drag yer sorry asses back home, Butthead," Casey crossed his arms, but the mockery was evident in his voice.

He grew tired of being fussed over, and eased Leo's hands aside. Raph didn't quite want Leo to get emotional with him in front of Casey. "Leo… I'm okay," he pushed himself up from the mat, "I just feel like shit."

Mike stifled a laugh in the midst of coughing. "Smell like it too, bro." He got up before Raph could do anything about that remark.

"And there can't be nothin' wrong wit Mike." Raph informed Leo instead. 

The back door closed, and the rustling of a nylon coat was heard before Steve stepped into the living room. "Hello guys," She greeted, then held a hand out to Casey. "I'm Stephanie Edgley. You must be their other friend, huh?"

"Yeah, Casey's the name," Her introduction came as a blur, but he went along with the smile and handshake. She looked over to the turtles.

Leo took that break as a time to ask her about what news the vet had. Ryan mentioned she called in a report that morning. 

"Well, Diane made that call to another veterinarian that specialized in reptiles." Steve started, when she saw some concern from Leo. She knew what it was about, after hearing a bit from him about his fears of being made A New Discovery. "Don't worry, she left out the specifics, Leo. But the advice she got was to keep them under heat lamps - or in your case, stay in warm rooms. Around seventy, eighty degrees. Seemed to be concerned about the threat of pneumonia, especially for Mike. Make sure to take the antibiotics. And... to reduce physical activity, get plenty of liquids, rest up … that sort of thing." 

Steve paused, and gave an authoritative look to Mike. "And Diane agreed that talking too much would irritate your larynx and airways more. Restrain yourself, eh Mikey?" 

He promptly clamped his beak shut and returned an innocent look to her. She merely raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

"Splinter'll know what to do." Raph gave up on following what Steve was telling them. He felt more of a need to answer that certain call again. "Dammit… I gotta go upstairs." 

"Be thankful she didn't plug you with those, um bags, down there." Mike tittered.

Leo finally had enough of Mike's childish behavior. "Mike…knock it off! And clean up these things." he growled, taking to one side of Raph to help him up. 

Mike suddenly felt at loss as he watched the two go into the hall. Despite the company from Casey and Steve, he quietly went about the business of folding up his and Raph's quilts and tidying up that area.

"What's gotten into him?" Raph whispered with true concern. He leaned heavily on the stair railing to take the weight from his sore leg.

"Nerves. Still having trouble with what happened, my guess. " Leo kept his eyes on the stairs for the most part. Leaving those two alone were like the blind leading the blind. Neither one could have helped each other fully. They lacked that true understanding of what really happened, thus feeding each other on unstable rumors. Yet, he admitted there were still some things he didn't understand yet either.

"Major case of Nuts in the Head." He muttered under his breath. All the while, it felt nice to have a serious, level-headed conversation with Leo, or anyone.

"Should have stayed down there with you guys."

"No, you were tired Leo. Did a lot for us already, so you _deserved_ to sleep."

"I couldn't sleep." Leo briefly interrupted to make his point.

"But Ryan did what he could, and Splinter… he'll help Mikey figure it out. He knows…" 

Leo's blunt reality check was all Mike needed to get back to his senses again. All that it took for him to fight off the sleep in desperation of evading Death, only rewarded him with more fatigue. His head now hurt, and his muscles were stiff all over. Overall, a weakness that made it hard to fend himself from what he didn't want to think of. One, he had been a general, unhelpful nuisance to Raph. Probably could have worsened the situation a whole lot more. And Two, he really _was_ acting like a sissy about everything. He stared down at the glass of orange juice set before him on the kitchen table. 

Ryan went back to the far counter to finish making a sandwich. 

He finally took a gulp, and carefully set the glass back down. The coldness from the juice helped sooth away some of the discomfort, but he decided the other half of the aches were whiplash. The turtle overheard some of the chit-chat between Casey and Steve in the living room, almost uplifting and comforting. Another part of him wished to go to sleep someplace warm and comfortable, but he wasn't sure about himself yet. He compared this to what it was like to be haunted by Freddy, from the _Nightmare on Elm Street_. 

Ryan sat down at the table with his lunch. Before he took a bite, he looked at Mike with some concern. The turtle still stared at the juice like it was a wishing well. 

"Is it catching up on you?"

Mike looked up from the orange juice, faking a smile. Just how Ryan said "it" unsettled him a bit, but he knew what he meant. Weariness. He just nodded yes. 

Ryan ate in silence as Mike half dozed for a couple minutes longer. He guessed Mike's problems all the same, but he wasn't going to push it out of him. He felt responsible for some of his confusion, for giving the turtle insight to his spiritual world. But seeing Mike's brothers in agony pushed him into those desperate prayers. 

He picked up his can of Coke, when out of the corner of his eye, Ryan saw tears forming in Mike's eyes. Soon he heard sniffling.

The chair suddenly scooted back and Mike left the kitchen, wiping at one of his eyes with his hand. After grabbing Leo's black coat from the rack, he left through the back door. 

"Mike?" Ryan went after him when he heard the door slam shut. Standing on the deck, he saw Mike walking briskly to the horse barn. 

"What is it?" Don stood behind him now. He just came down the stairs when he also noticed Mike going outside.

Ryan turned around and slipped past him to get his own jacket. _I think he's starting to work things out. Get your coat._ He paused a moment, noticing that Steve had stopped talking to look in their direction. The truth in this case, they could do without, since they wouldn't understand. "We're going out, to say goodbye to the horses." 

Leo squirted more iodine surgical soap across the top of Raph's carapace, and took to it with a scrub brush. Earlier, he started out removing Raph's IV needles and checking the wounds, but it soon turned into a complete clean-up operation. He decided to clean the crud off of Raph's shell, while Raph settled on soaking in a tub of hot water, for the sake of his legs.

Hot baths came as a luxury when they had been growing up in the sewers. Finding the hot water pipes weren't the problem. It was finding a tub-like container to put it in. Splinter preferred the baths the most, as he claimed the hot water helped stimulate blood flow, and thus helped ease aching muscles. Also prevented the likely-hood of blood clots with some bruising injuries. But nothing seemed to compare to the _onsen_ (hot springs) Hamatto-sensei spoke of. 

Raph sat hunched over in the tub, resting his elbows on the sides. The intense warmth lulled his senses into what felt like a state of meditation. He felt stimulated and alert, but also at ease - he had no complaints, except maybe having to get out of the tub right away. Leo seemed to be in a hurry to leave this morning.

"Leo…" he still watched the clouds of brownish, red water float up around his legs. "Now it's twice I owe you."

His brother seemed particularly engrossed in cleaning out crud from one of Raph's old shell scars. He hadn't gotten down to the real wounds yet. "For what?"

"For saving my ass, O Not So Wise One. And I gotta do something about that." Raph raised a hand to notice the number of briar scratches on it. "Like, saving your ass for once. Mebbe even listening to you."

Leo paused to squirt more soap on the brush. His mind flicked back to a fight they had before finally heading off the Shredder. "I'll keep that in mind the next time you throw me through a barn wall." 

"Was that a tone of sarcasm?" Raph glanced over his shoulder.

Leo just smirked.

Raph raised a hand to proclaim, "Look, you wanna war? You wanna _war_? I'll _give_ you a _war_!" He made the water slosh a bit on the last exclamatory.

"I'll just take a rain-check on that…" He kept his focus on scrubbing for the most part. 

"Sorry, don't do that."

Leo didn't return the rally, he finally reached the laser holes. Dark scabs had caked around the holes as well as the inside. He also had been advised to pick away at the scabs in the early healing process, to prevent most of it from healing from the outside in. This basically was a puncture wound magnified, since it went all the way through. He felt as though he would've been better off not listening to the vet tell him all the hazards of those sort of wounds. 

Then the turtle froze when he recognized the location of the bottom hole. If it hit two inches more to the right, Raph would have had spinal damage -- paralyzed, even shot dead at that point. He finally let out a breath. _Don't start … it didn't happen. Be fortunate._

Raph noticed the break in scrubbing, along with the long silence. He glanced over his shoulder. "Having fun back there?"

Leo rocked back on his heels and rested his arms on the edge. He looked at the yellowed brush as he turned it in his hands. "No… but you really don't need to owe me anything. I'll get you out of trouble no matter what… I hope you'd do the same for me."

He gritted his teeth, that stubborn streak in him wanted to protest against the last remark. How his brother sounded more worried in that statement changed his direction of thought. Raph pulled in a leg so he could turn to Leo. He could still see what was left of intense concern. 

"You okay?"

Leo raised a soapy hand as to say something, but changed his mind. He gave Raph the brush and the Bentadine bottle instead. "You do the front. I'll be right back with the gauze and stuff." He rinsed his hands off in the water before leaving.

"It's always been 'my problems are your problems'. But… _your_ problems are mine too." 

Leo paused outside the doorway. "I'm just… worried about you."

"Mhh, Leo… don't worry. We're gonna be okay. Chew on that instead."

Mike ducked slightly when he saw Mick in the arena lunging one of the horses. He didn't want to be seen, and used his stealth tactics to slip inside nearest stall. The turtle sunk down in the front corner of the big stall, furthest away from the door, to hide. His mind was not thinking too clearly either. He noticed the gray horse in the shadows, and assumed it to be Jontondo, even though the stall he went into had been Delilah's. The cold settled around him, as all he had on was a coat. Mike pulled in his legs to hug his knees, closing his eyes and pulling his head in his shell to muffle himself. At least he could hide from the others, but Cold and Death were another matter.

Not much time had passed when he noticed warm breaths falling across the top of his head. Something nuzzled the sleeve of his coat, and it didn't seem like that of a big horse. The turtle came out a little, to see the small, dark nose of a foal. He blinked, as it stepped back.

__

Damn! It's a baby!

Mike came full out of his shell, his hands gripping the straw under him. The intimidated colt dashed back to hide behind its mother.

"You… what? No, it can't… and you're not Jon. Ohh wait…"

He closed his eyes and leaned forward to rest his head on his arms, catching his breath.

__

No… it wasn't a dream. It was…it was for real. I didn't die? Was I really a ghost? Damn… what…? 

Mike started to remember bits from yesterday. About the horses on the way back, about how he didn't remember seeing a gray one. Danza was there. He could remember that. There were gray horses somewhere else, however. This mother was one of them… 

__

What happened?!

Mike turned toward the wall, huddling up again. His head ached too much to even reason, but everything felt too crazy to believe. 

Don wasn't sure what was going on, since he pretty much slept like a log all night. He guessed Mike was having one of his moments again. He followed Ryan into the barn, no questions asked. Ryan helped fill him in a little, on the fact Mike couldn't sleep last night. He decided to save the interrogations for Mike himself.

Mick greeted Ryan when they came in. The trainer worked alone as he brushed down the black filly, and made no other mention abut Mike. Ryan assumed then, that Mike sneaked inside. He offered a quick suggestion to Don, to keep down suspicions. _Don, I'll keep him distracted here. Go over to the stalls and check 'em._

"I like to visit the horses one last time, Mick." Don went along with the game, before leaving the two. 

He was right in guessing that Mike wasn't being picky, and found his brother in the first stall. But he didn't expect how he would see Mike. He saw him huddled in the corner, and his head retracted. Don hadn't seen Mike that way since they took refuge at Casey's farm after the Foot stormed April's apartment. He decided that Mike's hiding, along with uncontrolled physical tendencies, came as a result from the pain of defeat, and the fact that Raph lay comatose in a bathtub. At the time, Don was the only brother available to just be an ear for him. To be solid ground. 

Don knelt by Mike, touching his arm to get his attention. His brother flinched, muttering denial.

"Mikey… s'okay. What's the matter?" The words were quiet and slow. It felt weird now talking to a headless brother.

He didn't say anything at first, but when he did, he said it to his shell. 

"Can you come out? I can't understand. Mikey?" Don knelt in the straw next to him. A few moments passed before Mike stretched out with a groan. 

Don put a hand on his brother's shoulder to welcome him. But his gaze held long on Mike's sullen features before he spoke. "Just tell me… I don't bite, remember?"

Mike wiped one side of his beak once, his eyes still on the straw. He decided to start with the guilt. "They put their lives at stake, and I acted stupid. Ungrateful. Leo's mad at me. I didn't want to bother Raph… I didn't want to -- I dunno... "

Don waited for Mike to say more. Nothing. He decided to slip in a little of what he knew. Leo just came across as being really taxed out lately. He didn't think it was true anger. Leo had snapped at him a few times the night before too.

"No… Leo's tired. He does care. He cared so much, he _gave_ so much for you back there. Wasn't going to quit." Don paused, thinking once with remorse that he wanted to give up. He couldn't believe he thought like that now. He usually was known for having steadfast patience and endurance. They all had been falling back on their weaknesses lately. 

Don swallowed. "I couldn't believe… how bad the both of you got. But, you were, were… almost -- just, don't expect to be perfectly okay, already." 

The mare moved restlessly, catching Mike's attention. But it was brief. He looked back to Don, and after unfolding himself, locked him with a hug. He needed to hold onto someone real. "Did I go away?" he buried his face in his brother's coat. 

A long silence followed as Don sought a good answer. It wasn't clear-cut. Mike's heart stopped for what seemed like a long time. He didn't have a watch handy, he didn't know how long for sure. But some people consider that dead. Mike came back though. Leo's attempts worked, as crazy as it seemed. Don decided Mike wasn't dead. 

He raised an arm to cradle his brother's head for reassurance. Mike couldn't have Been Gone. He refused the thought. "No, never."

The delayed response did not convince him. "Then… why -- how come I can remember things that happened there?"

Don held his tongue again, this time from confusion. He started stroking Mike's cheekbone subconsciously. "What things?"

"Them." Mike didn't lift his head, but pointed to the horses behind Don. "Or knowing about Tatsu, what he was doing, how he beat up Raph… and that Jon was dead…" He ended his list with something he told Don's coat.

"Hmm?" Don stopped stroking. Despite his false reassurances, what Mike told him sounded very chilling. No one told Mike about any of that, really. Even Ryan seemed to stay hush-hush about the past events.

Mike took in a breath and lifted his head slightly. "I was a _ghost_. I saw it all. Heard people's thoughts. Went through walls… and I heard Splinter too. But I didn't see him. I still don't know…thought it was another dream."

"Splinter probably took you out--" 

"No, he didn't." He could still remember asking Splinter the very same question about Astral Planes. Mike looked up into Don's unmasked face for emphasis. "It was like _Flatliners_."

He closed his eyes with a small laugh. "Mikey, that's just a movie."

"But what if--"

"Mike," Don brought a hand around to rest it behind his neck. "Then make it something to learn from. Don't worry about it."

Mike held his gaze with Don. The caring gentleness in Don's expression struck a chord somewhere. Mike realized just how worried Don had been, combined with a helplessness to not be able to do all that was needed to ease his pains. Just feeling left out. His eyes flooded over again.

Don brought his thumb across his brother's cheek to wipe away some tears. "There's no pain we can't face, okay. 'Possess the right thinking'." He said the words to remind himself just as much. They were forgotten too many times yesterday. His eyes started getting watery too. 

"Death can never touch, where there is love." Don added, after lightly kissing Mike's forehead. A small gesture Splinter often done to them for consolation. 

The two remained in a silent huddle, quietly sniffing back on tears. They hadn't done anything more that seemed the slightest bit alarming to the colt, and so he ventured his way back over. Would it jump again if he bothered it too long again? Something he had to find out. He'd seen a lot of weird things lately, like that moving, dark stall. This, however, was just… amusing. They also had a smell not like the other tall animals that were around earlier. 

The dark colt nuzzled the back of Don's hood, breathing in the scent deeply. The turtle stiffened a second, until he realized what it was breathing down his neck. 

Mike also felt Don's tension and looked up. He had to stifle a laugh when the colt started to mouth the hood. The little guy seemed to be just what he needed to lighten up the mood now. Don, however, looked like he was about to swat him off. 

"No, don't." Mike whispered, before slowly shifting over from Don to see the baby. "I watched him get born…"

Don slowly turned to see it as well, but held his silence as he wiped the wet from his face. His brother's gentle actions with the baby gave him relief Mike seemed to be accepting something. 

"Remember me, buddy?" Mike brought his hands up for the colt to see before he tried to pet him. The colt took a step back to evade his hand. Mike persevered to touch its face and neck, and the colt finally let him. He started to feel happy the little dude ended up here, instead of somewhere else, or having to live the dreaded life it was first bred for.

"Is Danza okay?" He addressed Don. The colt nudged the Turtle's hands from his nose. 

"Think so."

The baby scampered away to let out a playful buck.

"I wanna see him too, before we go… home." Mike stood up and offered Don some help.

"Yeah, a herd of wild horses wasn't going to drag them away." Ryan greeted Casey waiting in the driveway. Don and Mike followed close behind, in contention about the big mare Mike accused Don of liking. Mike seemed to have forgotten his promise to not talk as much again. 

The Bel Air had been running some time to heat up the interior. Raph already got into the back seat and made himself comfortable. Don decided to take advantage of the situation, and get a front seat while he could. The hood on his coat offered him the chance too, without feeling too exposed. 

"You gotta promise me you're gonna write and tell me about the little guy." Mike faced up to Ryan.

Ryan merely returned a non-committal sound. Writing came to be one of his least favorite pastimes, all things considered.

"Then pictures, at least send pictures!" Mike shook a finger.

"Sure." Ryan brought a hand to Mike's shoulder to confirm it as he went by to Steve and Leo. They came out of the house, with the last of the Turtles stuff.

"Mikey." Steve called out to him. She held her stern look as she made a zipping action across her mouth.

Mike drooped his shoulders, and just mouthed the words of his protest. But then he stepped up to Steve for a hug. "Thanks for putting up with us. Sorry about the… horses." He whispered near her ear. She seemed pretty quiet about the horses, but he had a feeling the death of Jon was bothering her more than she let on. 

"That's okay. It was a favor I won't forget." Steve stepped back. 

Mike raised an eyeridge. "You sure?"

She smiled. "No, get out of here."

"Aww…" Mike decided to take that remark both ways. He noticed Leo come around from the back of the car. 

"Hey Leo…" he caught him in a hug too. A hug to express an apology and gratitude to his brother at the same time. Leo could pick up on that without words.

"Yeah, we'll be okay." Leo whispered to him.

Casey grinned, looking at them over the top of the car. "Oh, enough with the Hallmark commercials, guys. Are we going or not?" 

"Yeah, hold on, Casey." Leo turned to say goodbye to Steve and Ryan, before going to the car. 

Jars of Clay, _Sinking_

It's not my problem anymore  
You see, it never really was  
So you can stop caring as you call it  
And I'll be fine right here

You see that I can play a pretty convincing role  
So I don't need you, I don't think I need you

But you see through my forever lies  
And you are not believeing  
And I see in your forever eyes  
And you are forever healing

You can't hear what I'm not saying  
And I can hold out long enough  
Treading water I keep from sinking  
I'm not one for reaching

But you see through my forever lies  
And you are not believing  
And I see in your forever eyes  
And you are forever healing

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